Only The Good Die Young
by dudelove85
Summary: Karone thought that her evil alter ego was firmly in her past but the death of Kendrix Morgan brings everything crashing down around her. She sets out on a mission to Terra Venture with a desire to atone for her sins by helping out the Galaxy Rangers in any way she can. First in the Project Hexagon series, the follow up to the Chronicles of Power.
1. Only The Good Die Young

_**A/N –**_ _Welcome to the first story in the Project Hexagon series, the follow up to the Chronicles of Power series. This will be slightly different than the previous series in that it will focus more on the effects Project Hexagon has on the Ranger Family. I will also focus on events that have been affected by my changes to the series canon, like this length will be much shorter as well.  
_

 _This takes place after "To The Tenth Power" and the Space Rangers team up with the Galaxy Rangers. With Karone as the Silver Space Ranger, I needed to come up with an alternative story line. This story will only make sense if you've read The Chronicle of Power series, specifically The Final Frontier, so I will recommend reading that first._

 _Chapter 1 – Only The Good Die Young_

 _November 8 1999 - Karovia_

Far away from Earth was the newly christened Reiko System. With six Earth-like worlds orbiting a central star, it was slowly becoming a central hub for trade and transportation in this corner of the galaxy. Several of the planets were occupied by refugees from worlds that Dark Specter has destroyed. The fourth planet from the star was Karovia, home of the Karovian people.

The Karovian people had suffered greatly following the destruction of KO-35 just over three years ago. They were persecuted by Dark Specter and forced to hide in some of the most remote parts of the galaxy. They had nearly been completely wiped out during an attack on their temporary home but they were saved by the Space Rangers. Dark Specter had placed three of his personal Reapers in the High Council and if it wasn't for the actions of the rangers, they would've been eliminated.

The fall out of this incident had seen the removal from office of the incumbent President and the establishment of a new council. It wasn't long after this that the rangers defeated Dark Specter and removed the need for the Karovian's to hide. All of the warlord's generals had been destroyed at the same time, bringing peace to the majority of the galaxy. It didn't take the Karovian's long to find a new home planet and construction had begun within two weeks of Dark Specter's death.

As a show of appreciation to the Space Rangers, they were offered a home and ambassadorial roles on Karovia. The High Council hadn't expected them to accept the offer, two thirds of the team were from Earth and it seemed quite likely that the red and silver rangers would remain behind with the rest of the team. It came as a huge shock when Andros contacted them to accept the offer; that was just over a year ago.

Around a ten million people had been on KO-35 prior to the attack, now they were down to just under a million. Not all of them had died in the invasion, some had been off world and the rest had found their own shelter somewhere in the galaxy. Apart from people, they had also lost a sense of their own personal identity. The rangers from Earth had brought some of their own customs with them and these had been widely picked up. There was still some factions that wished for a return to the old ways and as a compromise, they were given their own land away from the major cities.

The Space Rangers had adapted quickly to their new surroundings and had been instrumental in establishing new infrastructure. Zhane had slotted back into his role in the military and for his services during the war, he had been promoted to General. Ashley Hammond and Charlotte Stewart had joined forces to create a new school of engineering. The Karovian people were renowned throughout the galaxy as ship builders and the co-headmistresses had ensured that this tradition would continue.

The Yellow Space and Blue Turbo rangers were decent engineers but they weren't experts in starship construction. Fortunately several engineers from the old KO-35 had survived and they became the new teachers at the school. Their first project was a new Astro Megaship for the rangers. A couple of months after the final battle, Andros had donated the Megaship to Angel Grove to be used as a museum. All entrances fee would go towards the reconstruction of the city. The Megaship Mark Two had been finished in record time and became fully operational a month ago.

Carlos Vallerte and TJ Johnson had taken a different route from the girls. The Black and Blue Space Rangers brought with them their love of soccer and baseball. It didn't take long for these two sports to take off amongst the young men and women of Karovia. With more teams springing up every day, some believed that it wouldn't be too long before professional leagues were established. It would also be quite likely the duo from Earth would be the first Presidents of their respective leagues.

Even though the population of Karovia was very close knit, crime soon started to creep back into society. Initially the military had acted as peacekeepers but a more long term solution was needed. Six months ago the Karovian Police Department had been founded and one of its new recruits was Cassie Chan, the Pink Space Ranger. Cassie had inherited her Aunt's natural skills of deduction and was tipped to move up the ranks quickly. She had also been the one to name the star system in honour of her deceased mother.

Andros had the busiest role of anyone, chief ambassador of Karovia. As the leader of the team that had defeated Dark Specter, everyone wanted a piece of his time. He was also tipped as a potential President in the future. For the naturally publicity shy Andros, the attention he was now receiving occasionally felt overwhelming. He could still count on the support of Ashley and their relationship was still going strong. All of the couples were still together and they lived in one apartment block in the center of the capital.

The rangers tried to keep up with the news from Earth but they still hadn't communicated directly with most of the previous rangers. Trini called periodically and Adam was in regular contact with Carlos. Aimi and Xander spoke with Cassie but these calls were beginning to taper off as the pressures of running a multi-national corporation was taking up most of their free time. They had gotten married seven months ago and the Space Rangers had returned to Earth as promised. None of their predecessors had been invited, probably for the best after their last meeting had ended in a brawl.

From the information that Adam was feeding Carlos, the rangers had learned that Hexagon had been slow to get off the ground. With no real threats, there was no need for Power Rangers. They had learned that a new team had emerged on Terra Venture, the Galaxy Rangers. The Hexagon leadership were a little miffed as they couldn't do much to influence them and their first potential set of new recruits had slipped through their fingers. The Space Rangers decided to keep an eye on Terra Venture, just in case their assistance was needed.

Months drifted past with no hint that the Galaxy Rangers were in trouble until a week ago when DECA picked up a distress signal from Terra Venture. The rangers wasted no time in jumping in the new Astro Megaship and running to the assistance of the new rangers. Unfortunately one of their crew was missing from the mission.

At a nearby medical center, a blonde haired woman stepped out into the street. She was dressed in a pair of black leather pants, knee high boots and a silvery, white t-shirt. Her left wrist and forearm was wrapped tightly in a bandage. She was greeted by a woman in a white pair of jeans, blue top and a light blue leather jacket. Her shoulder length brown hair was held back by a black hair band, "Hey Karone, I see the cast has come off", Charlotte greeted.

"Not a moment too soon", Karone groaned and twisted her left wrist, "that thing was unbelievably itchy".

"Well maybe that'll teach you for not wearing wrist guards", the Blue Turbo ranger smiled. Karone folded her arms across her chest but didn't respond. She had endured relentless training with Ecliptor for years, went through endless battles and even crashed her zord without suffering a serious injury. Then the first time she had worn a pair of in-line skates, she had stumbled and broken her wrist, forcing her to wear a cast for the last four weeks. Even advanced ranger healing couldn't mend broken bones without some assistance. The teasing from her brother and Zhane had been merciless.

"Any word from the others?" Karone asked, steering the conversation away from her own misfortunate.

Charlotte shook her head, "Nothing, whatever is happening on Terra Venture must be serious". The pair walked down the street and jumped into the waiting Storm Blaster. As they pulled away, the radio in the jeep signalled that they had an incoming message, "Charlotte here", the Blue Turbo Ranger answered.

"Hey Charlie", Andros' voice replied but something was wrong, there was a hint of despair in his voice, "we're on our way back".

"That's great", she replied but paused for a moment, "isn't it".

There was silence over the radio before Andros replied, "It was the Psycho Rangers", the women in Storm Blaster gasped, "somehow Trakeena and Deviot found a way to bring them back to life but we've destroyed them again".

Storm Blaster had stopped at a set of traffic lights, given the two women a chance to glance at each other. "Andros it's Karone here", the silver ranger began, "what aren't you tell us?" She had gotten to know her twin well enough over the last year to know when he was hiding something.

"Hey Karone, has your cast come off?" Andros asked.

"Don't try and change the subject brother", Karone said impatiently, "did something happen, has someone been seriously hurt".

Once again there was silence over the radio, "Andros, has someone died?" Charlotte asked with a quiet voice.

"We're all fine", Andros replied quickly, "but we lost Kendrix Morgan, the pink Galaxy Ranger. She sacrificed her life to destroy Psycho Pink". An uncomfortable silence hung in the air, they all knew that being a ranger was dangerous but they hadn't thought for a second that one of their own would be killed. Karone lent back in her chair and looked up at the roof, tuning out the rest of the conversation between Charlotte and her brother.

 _A few hours later_

It was after dark on Karovia but someone was furiously working away at an airfield on the edge of the city. In a hangar stood a silver jet and someone was loading supplies into the craft. The pilot of the craft struggled to lift one of the boxes and it crashed to the ground with a thud. "Damn it", Karone hissed and shook her left wrist to try and numb the pain.

It had been a difficult few hours for the silver ranger and a lot of old emotions had bubbled to the surface. She had remained silent all the way back to her apartment and once inside, she immediately broke down in a flood of tears. She was transported back to the dark days immediately after discovering her true identity, those days spent hiding on the Dark Fortress and eventually in the ruins of her home planet.

She wasn't sure when she begun lying about her feelings, probably when she got fed up of people asking her if she was alright. Eventually she had begun to believe her own lies and false wall of confidence had built up around her. Despite this Karone reminded herself that she was a Power Ranger for a reason and she needed to do something. Dragging herself up of the floor, she began packing a bag for a trip to Terra Venture as quickly as possible.

She had to pull in some favours to get the Mega Winger stocked up quickly. She had realised fairly quickly that being a national hero had some perks and the ground crew at the nearby airfield were more than willing to help.

Unfortunately news of the impending arrival of the silver ranger had attracted some attention. As Karone was preparing to try and move the crate again, she saw someone that she really didn't want to see, "Karone please don't do this", Zhane pleaded with his girlfriend, "you're arm hasn't fully healed yet".

"The cast is off, that's good enough for me", she hissed in response and began to push the crate with her foot. "I have to do this Zhane, it's my fault that Kendrix died", she added. Karone could already feel her resolve beginning to buckle, Zhane was probably the only person who could talk her out of this.

Zhane sighed, "I thought you'd gotten past this Karone".

"So did I", Karone groaned in pain as she lifted the crate onto the loading ramp of the Mega Winger, "but now someone's dead thanks to those things that I designed".

"That Astronema designed", Zhane tried to correct her.

"I am Astronema", she shouted back, "she's not my evil twin, she was me and no matter how hard I try, I'll never be free of her". Karone kicked the box in frustration, "We might talk about Astronema in the third person but it's me, it always has been".

'So that's what this is all about', Zhane thought to himself. He remembered having a similar conversation with Karone after she had destroyed her clone. He had believed that the end of Dark Specter would remove the guilt that she carried around with her but the temporary resurrection of the Psycho Rangers had undone most of her hard work. "Alright but at least let me help you load the Winger", Zhane finally said. Deep down Zhane knew that he had to let her do this, perhaps it would finally allow her to bury her evil persona for good.

Karone ran her hands through her blonde hair, "I'm sorry Zhane, I didn't mean to snap at you but this something I need to do". She paused and took a seat on the crate, mostly in relief that Zhane had submitted to her request, "I need to help the Galaxy Rangers in any way I can".

Zhane nodded and pulled Karone into a hug, he could feel his shirt getting damp as a few tears rolled down the silver ranger's face. "Your brother is going to kill me for letting you go off alone".

"I'm a big girl now", Karone sniffed and wiped her eyes, "I'll handle Andros so don't worry about him". Zhane nodded and finished loading the crate onto the Mega Winger. The couple stood on the loading door and gave each other one final kiss before Zhane stepped back. The loading door closed and the Mega Winger began to roll slowly out of the hanger. Zhane continued to look on as the jet sped down the runway and up into the night sky, bound for Terra Venture. Zhane could only hope that this mission could give Karone the closure she finally needed.


	2. Your Demons and Your Guilt

_Chapter 2 – Your Demons And Your Guilt_

 _November 12 1998 – Onyx_

Inside the Mega Winger was a small living area, just enough room for one person to sleep if necessary. Karone sat on the tiny bed and looked at the familiar set of clothes with a resigned sigh. She had almost forgotten that she had kept her old Astronema outfit until she found it tucked into one of the crates in the hold. She was quite glad that she did, it was going to form part of her plan to retrieve the missing Quasar Sabre.

Following her brother's example, she had set course for Onyx immediately after leaving Karovia. Nothing had really changed on Onyx since the fall of Dark Specter. It was still the same wretched hive of villainy, even if some of its more exclusive patrons had been destroyed after Zordon's purge. Today it was mostly occupied by some of the emerging villains in the galaxy along with low level refugees from the old Alliance. The silver ranger wondered what Zordon would say if he could see Onyx now, he might wonder if his sacrifice was worth it.

By pure luck Karone had discovered that Kendrix's Quasar Sabre had found its way to the planet and it was due to be auctioned. This was particularly fortunate as she didn't even know that it was missing. She was slightly disgusted that the auction was in honour of Darkonda as the brute didn't have a single shred of honour in his body. With the Sabre found, all she needed to do was form a plan. Karone was tempted to burst in as the silver ranger and seize the Sabre by force but after seeing that the auction house would be packed she had to reconsider. Even with her powers she could easily be outnumbered and overpowered.

That's when Karone hit on the idea of sneaking in as a potential bidder. She was too well known as the silver ranger now so she would have to go in disguise. After searching through her supplies she found the dreaded costume and armour of Astronema. Instinctively she had thrown them aside without a second glance but after getting over her initial revulsion she had a thought. Astronema was still feared throughout the galaxy and there weren't too many people that knew her true identity. There were the rangers and their closest allies, Dark Specter, Ecliptor and that was about it. The rangers wouldn't have shared her secret, even the Hexagon aligned ones wouldn't do something like that. The other two were dead and any trace of their legacy had been wiped out by Zordon.

With just an hour to go before the auction was due to start, Karone pushed aside her negative feelings. Temporarily resuming the identity of her alter ego would help recover the Quasar Sabre and return it to its rightful owners. Her own personal discomfort would be worth it.

Karone had forgotten how uncomfortable the vinyl suit and armour was and she couldn't understand why she had chosen those materials all those years ago. She could remember why she had chosen the heeled boots. She wasn't short but having a few extra inches of height certainly made it easier to order people around. The only thing that she couldn't recreate was the elaborate hairstyles, that had been controlled by her long departed magic. She had to improvise with some temporary hair dye that she had brought along with her. Karone quickly curled and braided a few strands before spraying a few pink streaks in her blonde hair, her own personal tribute to Kendrix.

The finishing touch was the make-up, her war paint so to speak. When Karone had finished she looked in the mirror and nearly cried. She was reliving her own worst nightmare but she had to remind herself that it was for a good cause. Her Wrath Staff had been destroyed so she had to bring her Digimorpher along. Zhane had upgraded it with a few new tricks, the ability to summon the Super Silverizer without morphing would be useful. It could also unleash a small energy pulse which would be useful in case her cover was blown. Finally Karone grabbed a black and silver cloak and draped it over her shoulders and face. She entered a code on her Digimorpher and teleported towards the auction house.

Karone decided to arrive early so she wouldn't draw too much attention to herself. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea and the room was packed. Obviously no one wanted to miss out on the Quasar Sabre. She took a seat at the bar and ordered a drink. She tried to pretend that she wasn't interested in the auction but truthfully she was listening to every word. Out the corner of her eye she noticed a humanoid dressed in black with an insect style head. Standing next to her was a black bodied created with red and gold accents anda large white ruff around his neck. Karone had heard about these two, they were Trakeena and Deviot, the primary enemies of the Galaxy Rangers.

"Now we come to the feature item in this auction", the auctioneer announced, "one of the galaxy renowned Quasar Sabres". There was a murmuring of interest from the crowd, "Shall we start the bidding at 10,000 credits".

The bid continued to rise but soon only Trakeena and one other interested party were left. The bid was up to 150,000 credits with Trakeena the highest bidder. Karone took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter, with no one else bidding it was time her dramatic entrance, "One million credits", she said with an air of confidence and authority. She slipped off her cloak and stood up so everyone could get a good look.

"Astronema", the auctioneer replied nervously, "what an honour this is but we heard that you were dead".

Karone gave him a little smirk and walked toward the podium with an arrogant swagger, "Did you truly believe that a mere human could defeat me", she began, "my disappearance was all part of Dark Specter's plan". Karone was slightly scared with how easily she slipped back into her old persona but there was no turning back now, "I believe my bid was a million credits".

"How do we know that you're really Astronema?" Trakeena cried out from the balcony. Karone cursed the insect woman, she was sharper than she gave her credit for. Trakeena walked down the stairs and closed in on the silver ranger, the crowd parting in the process, "You haven't been seen for over a year, you could be an imposter".

Karone feared this could happen but she couldn't show any weakness, "How dare you question me?" she boomed, "as the rightful heir to the Alliance I should have you executed for those words".

Trakeena though wasn't backing down, "The true Astronema would've killed me by now, not threatened me with words".

Internally Karone swore, Trakeena was right Astronema wouldn't used words, she would've blasted her with her staff. A new plan of action was needed, "It would be a grave mistake on my part to eliminate the daughter of the great and noble Scorpius without giving her a warning first". She could see the look on Trakeena's face changing, "I've heard great things about you", she moved a little closer to her rival, "you could be my new heir, think about that".

Karone placed a hand on her chin and began circling Trakeena. She was trying to throw her off balance and it looked like it was working. Either that or Trakeena was a really good actress, "Why would I want to the heir to a crumbling regime like the United Alliance of Evil? I have my own empire to command", the insect woman finally replied.

"Oh well", Karone shrugged, "it was worth a try". During this exchange she had slipped her Digimorpher into the palm of her hand. She quickly tapped in a code on the keypad with her thumb and thrust her hand towards Trakeena. A blue and silver energy pulse struck Trakeena and Deviot and they were catapulted across the room and into a couple of wooden struts holding the balcony up. The wooden platform creaked before it crashed down on the duo and a few other patrons, "Oops", Karone giggled and turned towards the auctioneer, "I'll take this", she ripped the Quasar Sabre out of his hand and calmly walked towards the exit.

Once outside Karone picked up the pace, she really didn't want to hang around any longer than necessary. She quickly checked her Digimorpher, it had just enough power to teleport her back to the Mega Winger. She ducked into an alley and teleported as quickly as possible, arriving safely in sight of her zord. Karone was pleased with herself, she had succeeded in retrieving the Quasar Sabre. Now all she needed to do is find the Galaxy Rangers and have a really long shower. Desert environments and vinyl suits really didn't mix.

When she approached her ship, Karone noticed some footprints in the sand. As she crouched down to inspect them, she heard a couple of voices, "I'm telling you this is the Mega Winger", a male voice said, "I'd recognise it anywhere".

"But there's no sign of the Silver Space Ranger", a female replied, "Ashley said that she was still recuperating from an injury".

Moments later four colourfully suited figures came into view, the four remaining Galaxy Rangers, "I found you", Karone said, drawing their attention. Suddenly she realised how this looked, Astronema holding their dead friends sword. To the Galaxy Rangers it looked like an ambush, "Crap", Karone cursed to herself.

"Astronema", the red ranger cried, "I knew reports of your death weren't correct".

"This isn't what it looks like", Karone began, "I've come to return this".

"Yeah right", Blue began, "you've led us right into a trap". He quickly drew his own Quasar Sabre and the others quickly did the same.

"I'm telling the truth", Karone yelled, "I've saved Kendrix's sword from Trakeena".

"Don't you dare speak her name", Red called out and charged towards Karone. Her eyes widened and she quickly brought the sword up in front of her. The red rangers blade clashed with her own and she was pushed back slightly. Her left hand fell off the handle as the impact jolted her injured wrist. The red ranger wasn't giving her a moment's rest and Karone found herself having to block another attack.

With her left arm temporarily out of action, she shuffled backward to give herself some room. She was running out of options, the only ones available would reveal her real identity as the silver ranger. With her path to the Mega Winger blocked she didn't really have a choice, "Galaxy Glider, Hang Ten", she called out and sprinted towards the Galaxy Rangers. She leapt into the air just as her glider appeared and she landed safely on the board.

As soon as her feet touched the Glider, she morphed into the silver ranger, much to the shock of the Galaxy Rangers. Karone thought about disappearing into the distance but that wouldn't solve anything. Making a quick loop around the Winger, she returned and hovered just above the heads of the Galaxy Rangers, "Do I have your attention now", she called out.

"This must be some kind of trick", the red ranger began, "what have you done with the silver ranger?"

"You're really not the sharpest tool in the shed are you", Karone instinctive spat out but she instantly regretted it. Sarcasm wasn't going to win over the Galaxy Rangers but perhaps a show of good faith would. She dropped the Quasar Sabre into the sand point first, "I am the silver ranger", Karone continued and demorphed, dropping her Digimorpher in the process. "And I am, or was Astronema".

There was an uncomfortable silence in the air as Karone waiting for the Galaxy Rangers to make the next move, "But how could you be a ranger?" the one in green asked.

Karone chuckled, "That's a long story", suddenly she remembered where she had heard that voice before, "Damon?" she asked, "Damon Henderson, GSA mechanic who fixed up the Astro Megaship?" The green ranger didn't say anything but his body language was giving him away, "Remember when you got a grease stain on the floor of the Megaship and I said-"

"I'd better clean that up, my brother will be furious that I soiled his ship", the green ranger recalled and demorphed to reveal a dark skinned male in a green pair of overalls, "it really is you".

"Good to see you again Damon", Karone smiled, "sorry I missed the fight against the Psycho's", she waived her left arm, "only got the cast off a few days ago?"

"How did you get the injury?" the yellow ranger asked.

"Doubling checking the facts", Karone smiled, "very smart. I was rollerblading, stupid injury I know but I've only got myself to blame".

The yellow ranger demorphed revealing a female with very long brown hair and a yellow leather two piece dress, "Ashley told me that story, I'm Maya", she introduced herself before turning to the other two rangers, "guys it's ok, she's one of us".

The red and blue rangers didn't look too convinced but they too demorphed. The blue ranger was an Asian male wearing the uniform of a GSA officer and the red ranger was a Caucasian male with brown hair. Karone could see the mistrust in their eyes, so she jumped down to their level, "I'm sure you know me as Karone, the silver ranger". The pair didn't say anything in response, "Look I know this might come as a shock but I really am here to help". The silver ranger pulled the Quasar Sabre out of the sand and handed it over to the red ranger handle first. After a few moments he reluctantly took it from her grasp.

"That cheery soul is Leo Corbett", Damon said, "and the other guy is Kai Chen".

Karone gave them a small wave but they didn't return the gesture, "Wow tough crowd", Karone began, "I'm sure we've got much to discuss, why don't we take this somewhere more private".

"No", Leo replied firmly, "thank you for retrieving the Sabre but we don't need your help". He turned around and walked away, closely followed by Kai.

"Don't let him get to you", Maya began, "he's been like this ever since Kendrix died". Karone nodded solemnly, "Thank you for your help but we really should be going". Maya and Damon gave them a small wave and they set off after their team mates.

"Well that could've gone better", Karone sighed and walked towards the Mega Winger. Just as she reached the boarding ramp, she saw a familiar craft take off, "The Astro Megaship", she gasped, "so that's where it went". Suddenly a new plan flashed into her mind and she quickly tore off her chest armour. The Astro Megaship had a special beacon that enabled other crafts in the fleet to track it in the event of an emergency. Andros had mentioned this was how they used to keep the old Delta Megazord following so close behind them. In theory it should allow her to track them in the Mega Winger. "You're not getting rid of me that easily", Karone smirked and dashed inside her zord. Moments later it left the ground and set off in pursuit of the Galaxy Rangers.

 _ **A/N -** This is probably the most descriptive chapter that I've written for any story. Not to set everyone expectations too high but I think the ten chapters of this story are some of my personal favourites. Chapter 8 has the steamiest scene I've written yet..._


	3. One More Stalemate

_Chapter 3 – One More Stalemate_

 _November 14 1999 - Terra Venture_

It hadn't taken Karone too long to catch up with the Astro Megaship and follow it back to Terra Venture. The Mega Winger had gone unnoticed by the Galaxy Rangers, clearly they didn't know about all the features on the Megaship like the one telling them that another fleet ship was locked onto its signal. The Megaship had disappeared into one of the docks on the large floating space station, probably a secret place that no one else had access to. The Megaship and the Mega Winger were highly recognisable vehicles, someone was bound notice them parked up together. Instead Karone had to engineer a gap in Terra Venture's sensor array so she could teleport in and out without setting off any alarms.

The silver ranger had been exploring the colony for a couple of days and found it very similar to Angel Grove. She also recognised some of the systems as they were used on Karovia which made sense as the same team had worked on both projects. Karone thought about asking people about Kendrix but she was a GSA officer. Most people wouldn't know about her disappearance and those that did wouldn't tell her due to Agency confidentiality.

Today was Karone's third day on Terra Venture so she thought it was time for a more direct approach. She found a hidden computer terminal in an abandoned factory inside the industrial dome. The Stewart's had taught her a few things about hacking plus she knew a trick or two from her time as Dark Specter's servant. Karone cracked her knuckles and tied her hair back before setting to work. A few minutes later she located Kendrix's personnel file and began to read. She had an outstanding record until a few months ago when she began to miss some of her shifts, "Must've been when she first got her powers", Karone muttered to herself.

Karone skipped down to the most recent entry, it was dated the day after her death, "AWOL?" Karone said outloud, "no one knows that she's dead". The entry read that Kendrix had failed to show up for her shift that day and there had been no trace of her since. The GSA Police had sent out several search teams but the note said that she wasn't a top priority, "Bet she would be pleased to hear that", the sliver ranger shook her head.

Suddenly a pair of strong arms grabbed her and dragged the silver ranger to her feet, "Hey get your greasy hands off me", she struggled against the man's grip.

"GSA Police", the black suited officer began, "consider yourself under arrest".

Karone was pulled out towards the road where a squad of officers were waiting for her. Leading the squad was a middle aged man with dark hair and a goatee beard. He was dressed in the standard uniform of a GSA Commander. The other man was in his early twenties with black hair wearing a GSA Senior Officer's uniform. Karone thought that the younger man bore a striking resemblance to the Red Galaxy Ranger. "So our hacker is a celebrity", the older man began, "what brings the famous silver ranger to Terra Venture?"

"Well there's this one restaurant on Main Street that my brother said I had-", Karone said cheekily.

"Less sarcasm please Miss Karone", the man sighed, "I'm Commander Stanton and this is my First Officer Mike Corbett. Perhaps we could have a serious answer this time". Mike's gaze never left the silver ranger and Karone was finding him hard to read.

"Kendrix Morgan", Karone began, "I heard that she's missing". Commander Stanton shifted nervously on the spot, 'Ha got you', Karone thought to herself. "She was a big fan of the Space Rangers so I thought I could lend a hand in the search".

"By breaking into a restricted system and accessing classified files?" Stanton raised an eyebrow.

"Well when you're the famous silver ranger, it pays to keep a low profile", Karone shrugged, throwing some of Stanton's words back at him in the process.

Commander Stanton was about to speak but Mike stepped in front of him, "Let me handle this Sir", he began, "release her into my custody, I'll find a good use for our guest". Stanton thought about this for a moment before reluctantly agreeing to his First Officer's request. The security officer released Karone and she gave him a firm glare in response. Soon it was just Mike and Karone left outside the building, "Why are you so interested in Kendrix Morgan?" he asked.

"I know what really happened to her", the lack of surprise on Mike's face gave him away, "since you're not surprised that makes you the Magna Defender", Mike didn't respond verbally but Karone could pick up on some surface thoughts, "need to work on your mental barriers Mike", she smiled.

"It's not nice to read other peoples thoughts", Mike glared back at the silver ranger, "some might call it a little evil".

Karone sighed, "I guess you've talked to your brother", Mike nodded, "look won't you give me the chance to tell you the whole story".

Mike looked to one side but before he could answer a loud beeping noise echoed off the concrete walls. Mike didn't look away from Karone as he answered the call, "Trakeena, Deviot and a load of Stingwingers are attacking in the central dome", Leo's voice called out.

"Alright I'll be there as soon as I can", Mike replied before turning back to Karone, "try and keep a low profile".

"No way, I'm coming with you", Karone replied and quickly pulled out her morpher. Before Mike could complain she had morphed, "I can get us there in a matter of seconds but I suggest suiting up first".

"What part of low profile don't you understand?" Mike sighed.

"There's no such phrase in Karovian", the silver ranger laughed. Seeing that he wasn't going to win this war of words, Mike summoned his morpher and quickly suited up as the Magna Defender. "See we make a great team already", Karone began and thrust he arm into the air, "Galaxy Glider, Hang Ten", she called. Ignoring Mike's protests, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him onto her glider. Karone leaned forward and shot off in the general direction of the battle.

 _Central Dome_

Outside the entrance to GSA Headquarters the four Galaxy Rangers were struggling to fend off their attackers. Leo was facing off against Trakeena whilst Damon was battling Deviot, leaving Kai and Maya against the Stingwingers. The blue ranger sliced through a couple of the insects with his Quasar Saber but he didn't notice a third attack him from behind. As he stumbled away, Maya jumped to his defence and swiftly decapitated the creature, "Thanks", Kai said.

"Don't thank me yet, there's plenty more where they came from", Maya replied.

Leo brought his sword up across his chest to defend himself against Trakeena's staff. He didn't want to admit it but the insect woman was close to overcoming his defences. He braced himself from another heavy blow, this time he was pushed back a couple of metres, "Give me the pink Quasar Sabre", she snarled.

"Never", Leo replied defiantly all the time wondering when his brother was going to arrive. Moments later a silver and black streak flew overhead, eliminating a few Stingwingers in the process. The red ranger looked up and saw his brother riding a weird looking silver surfboard that could only belong to one person, "Great that's all we need", he grumbled.

"Good to see you too", Karone replied sarcastically as she jumped down from her glider.

"I'm not getting on that thing again", Mike hopped off, his legs shaking from the journey.

"Typical backseat driver", the silver ranger shook her head."Super Silverizer Blaster Mode", pulses of grey energy shot out of the barrel and blew the Stingwingers apart, giving the blue and yellow rangers some breathing room, "Go", she called out to the pair, "we'll take care of this guys". Maya and Kai didn't need a second invitation and nodded their thanks towards the silver ranger.

"What's she doing here?" Leo asked the yellow ranger.

"Didn't stop to ask", Maya responded, "try and give her a chance Leo". The red ranger didn't say anything, instead he focused all of his energy on Trakeena and Deviot. He attacked the insect woman with renewed vigour, his arms a blur of motion. Trakeena began to breathe heavily as she struggled to keep up with the attacks of the red ranger. Leo kicked her in the leg before swinging his blade in an upwards motion across her chest. The Quasar Saber sliced through her side, drawing some thick green blood from Trakeena.

"You said you wanted the Quasar Saber's", Leo mocked, "looks like you got them". Trakeena cried in fury and pain but Deviot stopped her from attacking further. He took hold of her arm and teleported them both back to her ship.

The Galaxy Rangers turned their attention back to the Stingwingers but Mike and Karone had everything under control, "Gotta admit she's pretty good", Damon said to the others. Mike finished off his set of Stingwingers with a blast from his rifle. Karone meanwhile had switched her Silverizer to blade mode and began to charge it up. She spun in a tight circle and the energy blade cleaved through the Stingwingers, reducing them instantly to a pile of dust.

"Been a while since I had a work out like that", she smiled and demorphed. The Galaxy Ranger did the same as Mike joined up with them. The quintet were looking at her with a mixture of expressions, "No one rush to thank me then", she added.

"How did you find us?" Leo asked with hostility in his voice.

"I think you're forgetting who the Astro Megaship used to belong to. Didn't you stop to think that I might be able to track it? Karone replied.

"Well I for one am grateful for the assist", Damon smiled at the silver ranger.

Kai sighed, "Yeah I suppose you're not so bad".

"Guys this is Astronema you're talking to", Leo said to his team.

Karone was beginning to get annoyed with the attitude of the red ranger. He obviously had some feelings for Kendrix so she had let everything slide so far but she wasn't going to be able to keep her temper under control for much longer. "She says she's here about Kendrix", Mike began, "she did return her Quasar Saber at great risk to herself".

"Not you as well Mike, I bet she put some mind control spell on you", Leo shook his head.

"Leo that's enough", Maya tried to warn her leader.

"I'm not falling for her tricks", he continued his rant and stepped towards the silver ranger, "what's the matter Astronema, get fed up of your pampered lifestyle so you'd thought you'd try life on the light side. I bet it was fun playing the evil-", the rest of his rant was cut off by a loud crack and the red ranger stumbled away holding his face.

Karone had finally snapped and slapped his hard across his cheek. There was a cold fury in her eyes as she looked at the red ranger, "How dare you judge me", she roared, "do you know how I became Astronema? I was kidnapped from my home planet as a small child and fed a pile of lies for the next fifteen years". There was silence amongst the Galaxy Rangers, "Nothing about my childhood was pampered believe me", she turned around and walked away from the group without saying a word.

One by one the other Galaxy Rangers glared at Leo before they too began to walk away. "Bro I know you're hurting but you were out of line", Mike began, "I never been more disappointed in you", he added with a quiet voice and left Leo alone to nurse his bruised pride and face.

Karone refused to cry as she stomped away from the red ranger. She had been expecting words like that to come out of someone's mouth for while. She still remembered the hurtful things Rocky DeSantos said about her before the Space Rangers left Earth. Somehow it was more hurtful hearing them from a fellow ranger. Zordon had giving his blessing to her when they met just before his death, wasn't his word good enough for everyone else?

She wasn't sure how long she had been walking for but Karone soon became aware that she was in some dense undergrowth. A loud roar got her attention and she stopped in her tracks. She looked up and came face to face with a massive red lion, "The Galactabeasts", Karone whispered. From behind the red lion, a large pink cat stepped forward and looked at Karone. It gave a mournful cry and lowered its head towards the silver ranger, "You missed Kendrix don't you?" The Pink Wildcat nodded and gently rubbed its head against the silver ranger. Karone nervously reached out and stroked the face of the Galactabeast and it purred in response.

"I've never seen the Wildcat react to anyone like that", a voice called out, "except Kendrix that is".

"Come to insult me some more Leo", Karone said without turning around.

There was a pause before Leo continued, "I've come to apologise, you've been nothing but helpful to us and I've been an absolute bastard".

The silver ranger thought about this for a moment, even though Leo had annoyed her she also didn't want to bare a grudge against him. He probably wouldn't be the first person to react in this way to her past, "Apology accepted", Karone finally replied.

"That was quick", Leo began, "I thought I was going to have to beg or something".

Karone turned around, "I'm sure if people knew the truth about me then they would have the same reaction as you". Her gaze diverted towards the ground, "It didn't stop those words from hurting though".

Leo nodded and there was a silence apology from him once again, "You said you wanted to help", he asked.

Karone sighed, "I did but I'm not really sure how, I guess I'm just trying to make up for my mistakes in the past". She looked at the ground for a moment before her eye widened, "That's it", she said with broad smile.

"Am I missing something?" Leo eyed the silver ranger curiously.

"You're a ranger down so you need all the help you can get and I know something that will help you", she grabbed the red ranger by the arm, "come on we need to get to the Megaship". Leo struggled to keep up with the silver ranger still completely in the dark about what she had planned.

 _ **A/N -** One thing I wasn't a fan of in Lost Galaxy was that Karone came across as a little bit of a wet blanket sometimes. I decided that my version would have a little bit more spunk, perhaps maybe too much for people to tolerate. Thank you for the positive feedback so far, already got the next few stories in this series mapped out. _


	4. Do The Undead Live Within Us?

_Chapter 4 – Do The Undead Live Within Us?_

 _November 15 1999 – Astro Megaship_

Karone's fingers danced over the navigational controls of the Astro Megaship, trying desperately to find something that jogged her memory. Shortly after the destruction of KO-35 she had come across someone known simply as The Warrior. He was alleged to hold a great power, possibly even greater than her own. Fuelled by a need to please Dark Specter, she had ruthlessly petrified The Warrior before he had a chance to unleash his mysterious power. Perhaps if she could find this power and give it to the Galaxy Rangers then it would be another step down the road to redemption.

After studying the star charts, Karone noticed that they were in the same region of space as The Warriors home planet. Unfortunately she couldn't remember exactly which planet it was and that was frustrating the silver ranger. She hadn't even committed the name of the planet to her memory before condemning its principle defender to eternity as a statue. She was also struggling to monitor all of the systems by herself, "How did Andros do this by himself for two years?" she muttered.

"Problems", Leo asked as he walked on to the bridge. He was holding an ice pack to his face where Karone had struck him a few hours ago.

"Only with my memory", she turned to face the red ranger and laughed, "I didn't hit you that hard, don't be such a baby".

"Clearly you Karovian's don't know your own strength", Leo replied and took a seat at Ashley's old command post, "does this place bring back a lot of memories?" he asked after a few moments.

"Yeah it does", she sighed, "it was our home for several months. We had some good times here and some scary times too". The navigation computer buzzed in rejection and Karone slapped the console in response, "I miss DECA but at least she's been uploaded to the Mark Two Megaship".

"What you need is a break", Leo said and pointed to the captain's chair, "plus I think we need to properly clear the air".

"I thought we were on the same page now", Karone asked inquisitively before sitting in the chair.

Leo took a deep breath, "I never thanked you properly for retrieving Kendrix's Quasar Saber", he paused for a moment, "shame we haven't got anyone to use it".

"Didn't her morpher get left behind?" Karone asked.

"Nothing was left behind", Leo slouched back into his chair, "not Psycho Pink's body, not Kendrix's...", his words trailed off and he looked up to the roof.

"You never told her how you felt did you?" Karone still wasn't great with emotional situations but she felt that she had improved over the last year. Leo 's head snapped towards the silver ranger in confusion, "You don't need to be a mind reader to see that you really liked her", she added.

Leo ran his hand through his brown hair, "I never got to say goodbye", his voice began to crack, "we couldn't even give her a proper burial". Karone adverted her gaze slightly as Leo appeared to be on the verge of tears. He blinked his eyes a couple of times and took a deep breath to compose himself, "Sorry it's still early days".

"You've got nothing to apologise for", Karone replied, "I've noticed that men appear to be afraid to cry, I guess I've got a lot to learn about emotions".

"You sound like a robot", Leo snorted.

"Side effect of my years spent with Dark Specter", she shrugged.

Leo slapped his hand against his forehead, "Sorry I didn't mean to bring that up".

"It's fine", Karone began, "those years weren't exactly full of hugs and kisses. I wasn't physically beaten for my mistakes it was mostly mental. I soon learned that showing emotion was a sign of weakness in the Alliance and after a few years I completely forgot what it was like to be human".

"You seem much better now", Leo said, "if a little snarky every now and then".

She gave him a small smile, "The other rangers have taught me a lot", Karone responded, "the weeks after I found out I was Andros' brother were the hardest. I was suddenly overloaded with fifteen years worth of guilt so I isolated myself from everyone. It was only by chance that the rangers found me in the ruins of my childhood home".

"So how did you get your powers then?" Leo asked, genuinely enthused by her story.

"Technically I stole them", she began, "they originally belonged to Zhane, my now boyfriend, but he was missing at the time. I stumbled across the Digimorpher in the power vault so I removed it with the intension of asking the others about it. Then I noticed that the rangers were struggling with Darkonda, Ecliptor and Dark Specter so I jumped in to save them. After much debating they decided to let me keep them", she smiled at the memory, "look at us having a civil conversation".

Leo smiled in response but their conversation was interrupted by an alert from the computer, "Has it found something?" the red ranger asked.

"Looks like it", Karone replied and checked the computer, "that's weird, we've passed this planet earlier but it didn't find anything".

"It's worth investigating though", Leo began, "we can't leave Terra Venture for much longer". He stood up and headed for the door, "I'll grab my Jammer and follow you down".

"I've got a better idea", Karone smirked, "I'm going to use my old jump tube, it's been ages since I last used it". She patted Leo on the arm and ran off the bridge, "Race you down there", the red ranger shook his head and headed for the cargo bay.

 _Edvasia_

The planet Edvasia used to be a quiet and peaceful planet, protected by a man called The Warrior. That was until Dark Specter set his sights on the planet. With The Warrior beaten and imprisoned in a cave by Astronema, there was no one left to protect them against the invading Quantrons. Most of the population were sold off as slaves to the far corners of the Alliance. The ones left behind, mostly the elderly and the sick, slowly died without anyone to look after them. In just six months Edvasia had gone from a bustling farming planet to a deserted wasteland.

"Look at this place", Leo commented as he looked down on the abandoned capital city from a nearby hill, "it's a total ghost town".

For Karone this sight was nothing new. She had seen it all during her travels with the rangers, the remnants of her handiwork. From the polluted remains of KO-35 to the battle scarred craters of Eltar, she had certainly left her mark on the galaxy. The silver ranger had to keep reminding herself that she was working to undo her past crimes and that's why they were here today, "Let's get moving, who knows when Trakeena might decide to attack again", she said to Leo.

After a short hike up the hill the pair found a small cave entrance that was covered with overgrown weeds, "Are you sure this is the place?" Leo asked. Karone pushed back some of the undergrowth and found some scorch marks, the sign of a magical battle. She nodded in response and led Leo towards the mouth of the cave, however, their path was blocked by a forcefield.

"This isn't right", Karone said as she tested the energy barrier with her hand.

"Astronema", a ghostly voice boomed, "you dare return to the scene of your crime".

"The Warrior", Karone whispered.

"Prepare to face your worst nightmare", the voice added before a strong gust of wind pushed the pair away from the cave entrance.

"That's not a good sign", Leo said to his companion. Karone heard footsteps from the inside the cave and slowly got to her feet. She would face down whatever trial was put in front of her. She had already faced a clone of herself and won, nothing could be tougher than that.

The silver ranger suddenly caught sight of the nightmare coming to face her and she gasped. Her knees went weak when it began to speak in a malevolent voice, "Hello sister".

"Andros?" Leo asked with confusion, "you worst nightmare is your brother?"

The vision of Andros was dressed in his Space Ranger uniform but there was an evil look in his eye, "Come to make sure The Warrior was still here", Nightmare Andros began, "do you like to revisit some of your favourite atrocities". Karone found herself unable to speak in her defence, "Lost for words now? I never should have spent all that time searching for you". He moved closer to Karone, "Once evil, always evil", he added with a smirk.

"Hey leave her alone", Leo called out but Nightmare Andros grabbed him by the arm and threw him into the undergrowth.

"Stay out of this", Andros boomed and a stream of energy hit the Red Galaxy Ranger, trapping him in a forcefield. "Still getting others to fight your battles for you Astronema, you're pathetic".

"Karone he's not real, don't listen to him", Leo shouted.

The voice snapped Karone back to reality, "No I'm a Power Ranger, I know I've done evil things in the past but I'm working hard to make up for them", she said to the illusion of her brother.

"Power Ranger huh", Nightmare Andros began, "let's see how tough you are without your powers". Before she could react Karone's morpher flew off the belt of her pants and landed at the entrance to the cave. The vision smirked and Astronema's old Wrath Staff appeared in his hands, "Recognise this?"

Karone's eyes widened as a burst of purple energy flew towards her. She ducked out the way and the blast splintered a tree behind her. She had just about regained her footing when the illusion swung the staff towards her head. She rolled to one side and kicked Nightmare Andros in the arm, knocking the staff away, "Now it's a fair fight", she called out.

"That never bothered you before", the vision replied and unleashed a flurry of punches towards the silver ranger. Karone blocked all of them and countered by kicking the nightmare in the stomach. She followed this up with a straight kick to the head, knocking the air out of Nightmare Andros.

"I'm not here to fight you", Karone said as she deflected an incoming kick, "I've come seeking forgiveness".

"Forgiveness", the nightmare roared, "why should I forgive you?" Karone swung her left arm but Nightmare Andros caught it and applied a little bit of pressure. The silver ranger cried out in agony from the pain in her still tender wrist. She tried to twist out of the hold but the pain was too much, "Now this is a sound I've waited years to hear", the vision chuckled and threw Karone in the direction of Leo.

Karone cradled her wrist protectively as Nightmare Andros loomed over her with the Wrath Staff in hand, "I'm going to give you a choice", he began, "save yourself or save your friend here". Karone didn't hesitate for a second and pushed herself up onto her knees before standing up, "What are you doing?"

"I'm not going to let you harm Leo", she replied defiantly.

Purple energy began to gather at the tip of the Wrath Staff, "I'll do it", Nightmare Andros shouted.

"I believe you", Karone replied, "Leo's team and the people of Terra Venture need him more than they need me". There were a few tense seconds before Nightmare Andros lowered his weapon. His body shimmered until it took the form of a powerfully built man with tanned skin and short dark hair.

"You really would sacrifice yourself for the greater good?", The Warrior asked in confusion.

The silver ranger nodded, "In a heartbeat".

The Warrior looked at her for a moment, "Then Astronema truly is no more". The forcefield around Leo and the cave dropped, "What you seek is inside the cave next to my true body", he said to Leo. The red ranger thanked him before he retreated into the cave.

"I'm sorry", Karone began, "for what I did to you all those years ago", a small tear rolled down her face.

"I forgive you child", The Warrior gave her a warm smile, "perhaps it's time that you truly forgave yourself rather than hiding your pain behind all that bravado". Karone smiled in appreciation before The Warrior faded away.

"I've got them Karone", Leo called out, he had two interlocking metal pieces in each hand, "I've had a call from Terra Venture, we need to get back there as soon as possible". Karone wiped her eyes before following Leo back down the hill so he could retrieve his Jet Jammer.

 _Terra Venture_

Later that day all off the rangers had gathered in Maya's quarters to celebrate. The keys that Leo and Karone had obtained gave the red ranger the ability to access an armoured form known as the Battlizer. Leo used his new power to destroy Trakeena's latest monster that had given the other rangers a lot of trouble when the other two were away.

"All in all I think this has been a successful day", Damon proposed a toast to their victory.

"And it's all thanks to our special guest", Leo smiled towards the silver ranger.

"Stop, you're making me blush", Karone waived her hand in front of her face.

"Talking of guests", Maya began, "since you don't know how long you're going to be here for, I thought you could share my room".

"I couldn't do that", Karone stammered, "that's Kendrix's bed".

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind", Mike patted the silver ranger on the shoulder, "it'll be much more comfortable than sleeping in your zord".

The Magna Defender made a good point, "Alright looks like you've got a new roommate", Karone said to the yellow ranger. The rangers were about to have another toast when the lights began to flicker. One of the viewing screens activated by itself creating a loud static noise in Maya's quarters. The static soon turned into maniacal and distinctively mechanical laughter, "It's can't be", Karone gasped.

"Guess who?" the voice said and an image began to appear on the screen.

"Psycho Pink!" Kai exclaimed.

"Oh you ruined my fun blue ranger", Psycho Pink chuckled, "but don't worry, we're going to be seeing much more of each other", Psycho Pink vanished from the screen and the lights returned to normal.

"I don't believe it, how could she have survived?" Damon asked the others but no one answered. Karone bit her lip, it looked like she was about to get her chance to face a Psycho Ranger again.


	5. All The Evil Seems To Live Forever

_Chapter 5 – All The Evil Seems To Live Forever_

 _November 16 1999 – Terra Venture_

Karone shifted on her mattress trying desperately to make herself comfortable but try as she might, sleep wouldn't come for the silver ranger. She reached under her pillow and grabbed her morpher to check the time. "Great, not even 5am yet", she whispered quietly and thumped her head back onto the pillow. After Psycho Pink dramatically announced her survival, the rangers had tried to locate the creature. It was several hours later when Leo reluctantly called the search off as there was no sign of Psycho Pink. With Kai, Damon and Mike due on duty the following morning, everyone felt it was best to pause the search and try to rest up. Unfortunately the silver ranger's head was still buzzing with several possibilities and scenarios about how Pink could've survived. She had designed the Psycho's to be resilient but sadly she didn't know what modifications Dark Specter made to her original plans.

As the silver ranger stared up at the roof of her bunk, the lights in the quarters turned on. Karone threw her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sudden influx of light, "Ahh", she cried, "what's the big idea?"

"Sorry, I should've warned you", Maya apologised. She was standing next to the silver ranger's bunk, "Couldn't sleep?" she asked the Karovian.

"It hard to with the lights on", Karone grumbled, "but no I didn't think I've slept at all".

"Me neither", Maya sighed and walked towards her hammock. She sat down on the fabric bed and rocked gently back and forth.

"Well since we're both awake, how about I make some coffee", Karone rubbed her eyes and got out of bed. "I do have one question", she continued, "don't you own pyjamas?" she pointed at the yellow ranger who was still dressed in her regular clothes. In contrast Karone had swapped her usual pants for a pair of black shorts.

Maya shrugged, "We didn't really have a wardrobe on Mirinoi so I'm kinda used to it". She observed the silver ranger rummaging in the cupboards for a couple of clean mugs, "I remember meeting you", she said after a minute, "that day on Mirinoi when the Space Rangers visited".

Karone racked her brain but some of her memories were still a little hazy. Suddenly it hit her, "Jungle girl", she tapped a spoon on the counter top, "the one who rescued Ash from the forest. I thought you looked familiar".

The yellow ranger smiled in response, "You look much different, the natural look suits you".

"Yeah the hair and leather bodysuit was a bit much", she handed a mug of coffee to Maya, "you should've seen my skin underneath, pasty doesn't even begin to describe it".

"I do remember that you looked very sad that day", Maya sipped her drink, "like a lost lamb".

Karone sighed, "I got the shock of my life just a few minutes before. I was snooping around the Megaship when I discovered that Andros was really my brother, the brother that I thought had died years before". The silver ranger stared at the steam coming off her drink, "I still feel a little lost sometimes".

"Don't we all", Maya began, "until your friends arrived on Mirinoi, the concept of space travel was a little...", Maya waived her hands trying to find a suitable word.

"Alien", Karone chuckled.

"I was trying to avoid using the term alien but I suppose that does fit", the yellow ranger shook her head. "The point I'm trying to make is that you're not alone, even if you feel like you are".

The silver ranger smiled, "We're two peas in a pod", Maya laughed in response, "thanks Maya, you're really good at cheering people up, I bet Kendrix loved you". The yellow rangers face fell at the mention of her fallen team mate, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you".

"It's fine", Maya replied, "it's the little things that can set you off". She sighed and took a deep breath before adding, "You're right though, Kendrix and I were best friends and I don't think that's ever going to change".

Karone nodded and took another swig of her coffee, "Even when you do find a new pink ranger, no one's going to replace her".

"I know", Maya began, "it'll still be weird though, seeing someone else in Kendrix's uniform". Maya placed her mug down on the floor, "The Galactabeasts are really taken with you, why don't you be our pink ranger?"

Karone froze for a moment, that wasn't something she had considered. She had come out to Terra Venture to avenge Kendrix's death, not take her place. Something then came to mind that she had overheard shortly after Zordon's death, "I don't think I can, not without giving up my own powers".

"I don't understand", Maya frowned.

"I remembered something that one of the previous rangers said, someone should only be able to hold one active morpher at any one time", Karone began her explanation. "After Zordon died, his sacrifice restored all of the previously lost ranger powers which should've meant they would have to choose which morpher to use. But whatever Zordon did, it made them able to use any of their morphers, even swap them during a battle if they wanted".

"I think I'm following", Maya nodded.

"Then you're doing better than I was when Billy explained this", Karone laughed, "it was something to do with an energy buffer or something that prevents some sort of energy feedback. Essentially if I tried to use Kendrix's morpher without surrendering my own then something bad would happen".

"We don't even have her morpher anyway", Maya began, "either it was destroyed with her or another one won't appear until the Quasar Saber chooses the next pink ranger".

Their conversation was cut short by a buzzing from Maya's morpher, "Maya, Karone, Psycho Pink's been spotted in the square", Mike's voice called out.

"It's five in the damn morning", Karone exclaimed, "couldn't she wait for a couple more hours".

"Apparently not", Mike dead panned, "the others are on their way", with that, he cut off communications.

Karone placed her mug on the floor and began to follow Maya out of the door but then realised she wasn't fully dressed. She quickly swapped her shorts for her pants before grabbing her boots. The silver ranger zipped up one and hopped on the spot trying to secure the other one, "Next time I'll follow Maya's example and sleep in my clothes", she grumbled. She pulled her flight jacket off a nearby chair and quickly ran out the door.

 _Terra Venture Square_

Mike had stayed behind to manipulate the dome's artificial weather controls so the rangers wouldn't be fighting in the dark. Maya and Karone quickly caught up with the other three rangers and hurried down to the square. When they arrived Psycho Pink was waiting patiently for them, "So glad you could join me", she taunted.

"You're not going to get lucky again Psycho Pink", Leo called out.

"Dear boy you don't understand do you", Pink tapped her bow on the floor, "I'm invincible and with the pink ranger out the way, it's time to finish the work started by my fallen brothers and sister".

Leo didn't need a second invitation to attack Psycho Pink and instructed the others to prepare their morphers, "Go Galactic", he called.

"Let's Rocket", Karone added and the makeshift team quickly morphed.

Psycho Pink wasted no time in priming her Psycho Bow and unleashed a volley of energy arrows towards the group. Everyone managed to roll out the way to dodge the powerful blasts and they slammed harmlessly into the wall behind them. Leo and Kai called on their Quasar Sabers and charged towards the vicious Psycho Pink. They brought their blades down towards Pink but she was able to block them with her bow. Pink took a step back and spun away from Kai before swinging the end of her bow towards the blue ranger. Kai was thrown backwards with the force of the attack and he tumbled across the ground. Leo managed to get another attack in on Pink but once again she was able to block his sword. Pink kicked Leo in the knee and followed this up by smashing the red ranger on the back of the head with her bow.

"Leo", Maya called out as she rushed to his aid.

"I'll be fine", Leo grunted, clutching his helmet, "you've got to stop Pink".

"Good luck with that rangers", Pink taunted but she stopped when she saw her next challenger, "well if it isn't the silver ranger, I don't believe I've had the pleasure in defeating you yet".

Karone put her Super Silverizer into blade mode, "That's because my team beat you last time without needing my help".

If Psycho Pink's expression could've changed, she would've frowned, "Brave words little ranger", Pink raised her bow and a couple of arrows appeared, "let's see what you can do".

Pink fired her arrows but Karone brushed them aside with a flick of her blade. Her Silverizer shone blue as she aimed an attack against Pink. The sole surviving Psycho Ranger blocked the attack but just barely. Karone was relentless in her attack but Pink was just able to keep up her defences. Pink swung her bow towards the silver ranger's head but fortunately Karone was able duck. She rolled towards Pink and sliced her across her abdomen, drawing a cry of pain from the Psycho, "Lucky shot", Pink growled.

"We'll see", Karone replied and fully charged up her Silverizer. She swung the weapon with all her might and unleashed a powerful burst of energy but Pink was able to avoid the devastating attack. Karone tried to step back but Pink was able to grab her by the left wrist. The sliver ranger yelped in agony as pain shot through her recently healed bones, "Does my wrist have a big target on it", she spat out through gritted teeth.

Before any more long term damage could be caused, Karone was saved by Damon and Maya. The green and yellow rangers sliced Pink across her back and the Psycho relinquished her grip on the silver ranger. Moments later the Magna Defender leapt over the pair and blasted Pink with a volley of laser fire, "Glad you could join us", Damon joked.

"I had to explain to Stanton why I interfered with the environmental controls", Mike shrugged. The Magna Defender fired his weapon again, pushing Psycho Pink back.

Pink growled, "You haven't seen the last of me", She was about to teleport away when suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder. She looked down and saw the blue bladed weapon of the silver ranger. Karone had gotten to her feet and ran the Psycho Ranger through with her blade. Underneath her visor, she glared hatefully at Pink and refused to pull out her weapon. The Psycho Ranger grabbed the Super Silverizer and pushed it out her shoulder before quickly teleporting away.

"Karone are you alright?" Leo asked as he demorphed.

"Yeah I think so", Karone dropped her morph and clutched her left arm, "but she really did a number on my wrist though".

"We'd better get you checked out", Kai began to lead her away but he paused. The blue ranger looked down and spotted some red patches on the floor.

Damon spotted it too and knelt down, pressing his fingers against the spots, "Blood", he said as he inspected the liquid.

"It's not mine", Karone replied and the others responded in the negative as well.

"I didn't think Psycho Rangers could bleed", Maya mused out loud.

"They shouldn't", the silver ranger added before wincing.

"Let's get you to the medical bay", Kai said, "we'll think about this later". The others nodded before leaving the square, giving the strange blood patches one last look.

 _Astro Megaship_

"Never did like this place", Karone grumbled as she waited nervously for the results of her x-ray.

"Then you should be more careful", Maya admonished the silver ranger, "even though the cast is off, your bones are still healing".

"I agree with Maya", Kai said as he walked into the room. In his hand was Karone's x-ray that he placed against a bright light, "Good news is that you haven't re-broken your wrist but I would suggest putting a bandage on it for the time being, just to give it a little more support".

"Thanks Doctor", Karone moaned before jumping off the bed, "any more thoughts about our mysteriously bleeding Psycho Ranger?"

Kai shook his head, "None, we were kinda hoping that you would know something".

"Yeah you should be the expert", Maya added, "you've fought them before".

Karone bit her lip as she wondered whether to tell them about her role in the creation of the Psycho's. The Galaxy Rangers had only just begun to fully trust her so that revelation could undo everything. She also didn't want to call Andros, she had been avoiding his calls ever since she left Karovia. She really didn't want to have that argument right now, "I'll need to make a couple of calls, perhaps our technical experts could give me a hand".

The silver ranger approached a nearby communication screen and made the call. Moments later a young teenage boy with brown hair answered, "Karone, is that you?"

"Hey Justin", she answered with a small smile.

"Don't hey Justin me", the teen began, "Andros is flipping his lid, he thinks someone kidnapped you again".

"Is that Karone", a female voice called out before a female came into view, "you've got a lot of explaining to do", Charlotte paused when she saw Maya and Kai, "erm hello".

"Maya, Kai meet Charlotte and Justin Stewart", Karone began, "Charlie was the Blue Turbo Ranger back on Earth". She then pointed at the two Galaxy Rangers, "Guys this is Maya and Kai, the yellow and blue Galaxy Rangers". The two pairs waived at each other, "Alright firstly I'm sorry that I ran away but it's something I had to do".

"Don't worry about it", Charlotte began, "Zhane gave us an abridged version of what you told him".

"Andros is still pretty pissed though", Justin added, earning him a slap on the shoulder from his older sister. "I take it from your expression that this isn't a social call", the younger Stewart added.

Karone shook her head, "Psycho Pink managed to survive", the Stewart's gasped.

"We need your help", Maya implored the pair.

The siblings nodded, "We'll do whatever we can", Charlotte replied. The group on the Megaship relayed what they knew so far and the Stewart's promised that they would look into some theories from their end. In the mean time all everyone could do was wait until Psycho Pink reappeared again.

 _ **A/N -** Buried in my chapter is my explanation for why the Zordon era rangers can now hold and wield multiple powers. I didn't go into too much detail as wheeling off technical information perfectly wouldn't fit in with Karone's character. She's not an idiot but she's not a genius like Billy or Justin either. _

_Basically in my little universe one person should (in theory) only be able to use one morpher, therefore, only have one set of powers. To use another morpher they would have to surrender their current powers or have their powers destroyed/stripped. Zordon's parting gift to original rangers was to restore their powers and somehow safely insulate them against energy feedback from having multiple powers. In theory someone with more than one set of powers (looking at you Tommy) could morph into a different ranger during the same battle. Hope that makes sense..._


	6. A Victim Of Cruel Charade

_Chapter 6 – A Victim Of A Cruel Charade_

 _November 19 1999 - Astro Megaship_

It was mid afternoon on Terra Venture when Karone received an alert from her morpher informing her of an incoming communication. With the Galaxy Rangers busy, she elected to return to the science room on the Astro Megaship to take the call. A few days had passed since she had communicated with Karovia, the Stewart's in particular, asking for assistance with Psycho Pink. There hadn't been another sighting of the rogue Psycho since, it was like she was a ghost in the system.

Karone pressed her palm print to the screen to confirm she wanted to accept the call, "Hey you two", she greeted, "not the couple I was expecting to see".

"I'm not sure if I'm insulted or not", TJ Johnson pressed his hand against his chest, "what about you dear?" he asked his companion with a hint of fake sugariness.

"Still deciding", Cassie Chan added, "and don't call me dear again, it makes me sound like a Grannie", the Pink Space Ranger said to her boyfriend.

"It's good to speak with you", the silver ranger began, "it's been a long few days".

"I still can't believe Psycho Pink survived", Cassie replied with fury in her eyes, "if only I hadn't lost to that bitch none of this wouldn't have happened".

"Cass it wasn't your fault", TJ began, "we all know how tough the Psycho's were. I think all of us took a beating from them at some point". Cassie nodded recalling TJ's battle with Psycho Blue that landed him in the medical bay for several days.

"I think I've still got the bruises from the final fight with Psycho Red", Karone rubbed her back unconsciously and paused for a moment. "Sorry for sounding surprised at your call but I was expecting to hear from Justin or Charlie", the blonde added.

"They're still working on your problem", Cassie replied, "I don't think either of them have slept since your call". The pink ranger looked down briefly before adding, "We've been thinking and all of us have come up with a theory".

"Really?" Karone raised an eyebrow.

"Hey we're not stupid", TJ exclaimed.

"Sorry Teej", Karone shook her hands, "what's your idea?"

Cassie looked at her boyfriend and nudged him in the arm. The blue ranger shook his head but Cassie glared at him and he let out a deep sigh, "Remember the data we looted from the Dark Fortress?" Karone nodded slowly, after defeating Dark Specter the rangers downloaded as much information as they could from the Dark Fortress. It was mostly useless now the Alliance was gone but it didn't hurt to have as much data as possible, "Well we studied your original plans and ideas for the Psycho Rangers and noted that you called them shells in your notes".

The silver ranger thought about this for a moment, her prototypes were mere shells, similar to the ranger's suits. Her original intention was to select five of the strongest warriors in the galaxy to use them but before the selection process could begin, she found out the truth about her origins and the project was abandoned. She theorised that Dark Specter modified her designs so the shells were the Psycho Rangers, complete with their own sentience. The monster form was probably a by product of the need for something to be inside the shells. Karone then became aware the Cassie was speaking, "Sorry Cass I zoned out for a moment, could you run that by me again", she said.

"Drifting off into your own world again", Cassie smiled, "we theorised that the sentience of Psycho Pink could lead her to want to survive at all costs".

"And the nature of her original design could mean that anything could be underneath the shell", TJ added.

Karone's eyes widened, "I'm not sure if I like where this is going".

Cassie sighed, "Did you get a sample of the blood you found after the last battle", Karone nodded, "did you run any tests on it?"

"None of us knew how to", Karone replied, "this was usually Kendrix's area of expertise".

TJ nodded, "Alright we're going to get Alpha in here to talk you through the process", he paused for a moment, "have you told the Galaxy Rangers about the origins of the Psycho's?"

"They've only just begun to trust me", Karone sighed, "I can't drop this bombshell now".

"They know you were Astronema right?" Cassie asked and the silver ranger nodded, "then I think they'll be more accepting then you believe".

Karone paused for a moment in thought before nodding, "Alright I'll talk to them after I've run the test". The Pink and Blue Space Rangers smiled, "I'm going to get to the science lab on Terra Venture, have Alpha call me in about 15 minutes", the pair nodded and Karone bid them farewell. Karone opened a drawer and pulled out the blood sample she found after the last fight with Psycho Pink. She rolled it between her fingers absentmindedly before leaving the Megaship.

 _Terra Venture Science Block_

A couple of hours after her call from Karovia, the silver ranger sat behind a computer and bit down on her nails. She had run some tests on the blood sample and immediately summoned the Galaxy Rangers. She had the results of the tests and it wasn't good news, "Hey Karone", Leo said as he and the others walked into the lab, "your call sounded important".

She swallowed deeply before starting, "Yeah I run some tests on the blood sample we got a few days ago but before I get on to the results, I want to tell you a few things about the Psycho Rangers".

"Alright we're all ears", Damon replied as he perched on a nearby work bench.

"The Psycho's were originally designed as an outer shell for someone to wear", the silver ranger began, "it would've given the wearer enhanced strength, power and speed. Essentially they were meant to be the perfect weapon against the Power Rangers". She paused and took in the confused looks of the Galaxy Rangers, "The project was initially scrapped as the suits couldn't be powered up. That was until Dark Specter drained some power from Zordon to get them working. He also corrupted the design to make them sentient rather than mere suits".

"How do you know so much about this?" Mike asked.

Karone sighed and lowered a head, "Because the original designs were mine", she said softly. She waited for the evitable backlash but none was forthcoming. She looked up slowly, "Are you not mad?"

"If were honest, we kinda expected something like this", Kai replied.

"This mission seemed personal for you", Maya added, "like you felt responsible for something".

The silver ranger let out a deep sigh of relief, it felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, "You said they were meant to be used as suits?" Damon asked.

Karone nodded, "I'll give you a demonstration", she stood up and grabbed her morpher. She punched in the code 7-7-9-2-4-6 into the device and the suit of Psycho Silver appeared around her body. "I created this to confuse the Psycho's", she said with the synthesized voice of a Psycho Ranger, "if I wanted to could use this instead of my own power suit but it would really creep people out".

"Yeah you don't say", Leo murmured as Karone recalled the Psycho Silver suit, "so how come the Psycho's had a monster form as well?"

"I'm not really sure", Karone replied, "could've been a side effect of the creation process or maybe a sick joke by Dark Specter. As I said, I abandoned the project long before they were brought online".

Damon raised his hand, "Forgive me for sounding like a silly grease monkey but what does this have to do with that blood sample".

"Everything", Karone sighed, "from what you told me Psycho Pink was at the epicentre of that energy field when Kendrix entered and destroyed the Savage Sword. The backlash should've destroyed Psycho Pink but it somehow it only killed the monster underneath".

There was a general unease amongst the Galaxy Rangers, "But the suit survived?" Leo asked.

The silver ranger nodded, "Along with the sentient AI of Psycho Pink. It attached itself to the nearest compatible biological source". She pushed a button on the computer and brought up the results of the blood analysis. The word 'HUMAN' flashed up before a picture of a familiar blonde haired woman.

The rangers were still in shock when they heard the sound of clapping coming from behind them, "Took you all long enough", the voice of Psycho Pink called out. The Psycho Ranger swaggered into the lab and stood just a few feet away.

"Psycho Pink recognised the morphing energy in Kendrix's Transmorpher and to preserve herself, she latched onto that", Karone said, filling in the gaps for the others. She leaned back on the console as the Galaxy Rangers slowly backed away.

"Such an inferior intellect", Psycho Pink reached up to her head and gave it a strong tug. It came away like a helmet and some long blonde hair tumbled out, "You should never have figured it out so quickly".

"Kendrix?" Leo gasped, "is it really you".

Psycho Pink laughed, "Oh dear sweet Leo", Kendrix's face twisted into an ugly sneer, "don't you understand, Kendrix is gone honey, only Psycho Pink remains".

"Pink's AI overpowered Kendrix's mind", Karone continued, "her body was saved from death but at a cost".

"Can we get her back?" Maya asked.

"What makes you think I'm going to give up control", Psycho Pink laughed. She summoned her Psycho Bow and took aim, "This should stop you from having any ideas about saving your friend".

The rangers back away but Damon spied something out the corner of his eye. He pushed Mike out the way and smashed his fist against a small glass panel and pushed the button underneath. Immediately the lab was filled with the sound of sirens and a glass screen dropped down between them and Psycho Pink, "Emergency quarantine procedure", the green ranger began, "nothing will get through that screen until Commander Stanton authorises its deactivation".

Psycho Pink slammed her Bow against the screen but it simply bounced off without making a scratch. The Psycho paused for a moment before laughing, "Doesn't matter, I don't need to psychically beat you, I've already won the psychological battle. You'll never destroy me because you know it'll kill your friend". Psycho Pink picked up her discarded helmet and replaced it but not before blowing Leo a kiss, "Until next time", and with that Psycho Pink disappeared.

"She's right", Kai sighed as he rested up against the wall, "we can't fight her, we'll kill Kendrix".

"Kendrix is already dead man", Damon replied, "I don't want to sound heartless but she was dead the moment that she destroyed the Savage Sword. That might be her body but someone else is at home".

There was silence for a few moments as the group through about the green ranger's words, "Can it be reversed?" Leo said with a quiet whisper.

"I don't know", Karone replied, "I have no idea what changes Dark Specter made to my original design and program".

"Will the remains of the other Psycho's help?" Mike began, "Commander Stanton wanted them kept, just in case we could gain some valuable intelligence from them".

Karone thought about this for a moment, "If the CPU survived then yes but it'll take time to decrypt".

"Then that's what we'll do", Leo said to the other rangers.

The doors of the lab opened and for a moment the rangers thought that Psycho Pink had come back. Instead it was Commander Stanton and a couple of armed GSA guards, "What's going on in here?"

"It was my fault", Karone began, "Mike and Kai were showing me some of the data they obtained from the Psycho Rangers. With Psycho Pink sighted again, I thought I could help get rid of her once and for all. Unfortunately I tripped and fell again the emergency button", she shrugged sheepishly.

Commander Stanton didn't looked overly convinced but he didn't press the matter, "And the civilians?" he pointed at Leo and Maya.

"I'm a big fan of the silver ranger", Leo began, "I just wanted her autograph".

Stanton sighed, "I beginning to wonder if your presence here is more trouble than it's worth", he said to the silver ranger, "I appreciate your help but I'm going to have to ask you to leave the station".

"But I'm so close to stopping Psycho Pink", Karone begged, it wasn't a total lie they were closer than they were a few hours ago.

"She has been a great help to us", Kai added, "she's discussed many new security protocols". The silver ranger glanced over and Kai lightly shrugged his shoulders.

"One week", Stanton said as he deactivated the quarantine shield, "Psycho Pink or not if you're still here after that, I'm escorting you off myself", he turned around and left the lab without another word.

"Not the first time I've been thrown out of somewhere", Karone shrugged, "but it mean we have to move fast". She looked at the Galaxy Rangers, "Are you all with me?"

The rangers looked at each other, "If it'll bring Kendrix back to us, we'll do whatever it takes", Leo stated with a firm conviction. It was a statement that no one disagreed with, they would do anything to save their friend from the clutches of Psycho Pink.

 _ **A/N –**_ _Anyone who guessed that the reborn Psycho Pink was Kendrix gets a gold star. I did make one change to canon in that Psycho Pink wasn't destroyed by the Astro Megazord like she was in "The Power of Pink". Instead she was trapped in the violent pink whirlwind along with Kendrix._

 _Remember when I said that "the steamiest scene I've ever written" was in chapter 8. Well I miscounted and it's actually in chapter 7 and that shall be up on Monday._


	7. Does It Measure Up To Your Lust?

_Chapter 7 – Does It Measure Up To Your Lust?_

 _November 22 1999 – Terra Venture_

It was well after dark on the space colony Terra Venture and Leo was sleeping sounding in the room he shared with Kai and Damon. The rangers were no closer to separating Kendrix's body from the essence of Psycho Pink. With each passing day the tensions rose in the camp as the date for Karone's forced extradition from the colony drew closer. Psycho Pink hadn't been seen since their confrontation in the science lab. If any part of Kendrix's personality remained deep with the Psycho Ranger, perhaps it was holding her off from battling her friends.

Leo often thought about the pink ranger since their first meeting on the launch day of Terra Venture. He had been captivated by not just the beauty of the young woman but her brains as well. Science was her passion and her enthusiasm when she spoke about the subject was mesmerising for the red ranger. The pair often flirted and Leo thought many times about pursuing a more romantic relationship with the pink ranger but something always held him back. When he thought that she had died on the planet Rashon he was heartbroken. He was also extremely angry, with Psycho Pink for taking her life, with Kendrix for being so reckless but mostly with himself for not telling her how he felt. When Karone arrived he took his pent up frustrations out on the silver ranger. It took a literal slap around the face to bring him back to his senses and now he was focused on ending Psycho Pink for good and saving the woman he loved.

He opened his eyes and glanced at the clock, it was just after 1am. Leo rolled over to face the door when suddenly he saw a shadowy figure standing in the middle of the room. The lights in the room stayed off but gradually the figure became a little clearer in the gloom, "Kendrix?" he asked in confusion.

Kendrix gave him a small smile, "It's me Leo", she replied. She was just the way Leo remembered her, dressed in her redish/pink GSA uniform. Her blonde hair was pinned back except for a few strands that framed either side of her face, "We found a way, I'm back", she added and began to move closer to Leo's bed.

Leo wanted to jump up and wrap his arms around her and never to let her go again but he couldn't move out of his bed, "I don't understand", he began.

By now Kendrix had closed the gap to his bed and placed a finger on his lips, "Shh don't worry about it", she began, "all that matters is that I'm here now". She took off her glasses and folded them up, placing them on a small table next to his bunk.

"Your glasses?" Leo mumbled.

"I won't need them for what we're about to do", she replied in a husky voice. Leo was in the middle bunk, with Kai below and Damon directly above him so Kendrix didn't need to bend down. She placed a hand on one side of his face and kissed him deeply. Leo's eyes were wide out but he soon closed them and melted into the kiss. He grabbed the back of Kendrix's head and grasped her hair tightly, pulling her closer.

They kissed for a few moments before Kendrix grabbed the sheet covering Leo and threw it across the room. He was only wearing a thin pair of pyjama bottoms and the cold air in his quarters hit him immediately. His body temperature soon went through the roof as Kendrix clambered up onto his bunk and straddled his waist. She ran her hands down his bare chest and slowly ground her hips into his. Leo's head buried itself in his pillow as he lost himself in the moment, "You don't know how long I've wanted to do this for", he gasped.

Kendrix bit her lip as Leo slowly caressed her thighs. His hand wondered slowly up her body until they were underneath her top. When his cool hands touched her warm body, he was almost lost it. Kendrix looked like she felt the same way, her eyes were locked firmly with his and her mouth was open slightly, "Don't worry sweetie", Kendrix she gasped, "we've got all the time in the world". Leo suddenly became aware that Kendrix was squeezing his abdomen tightly with her legs. Initially he was enjoying the feeling but it gradually became a little too tight.

"Kendrix that's a little uncomfortable", he said.

She bent down and kissed him firmly on the lips, her teeth catching his lower lip. Leo's concerns disappeared slightly when her hand slowly slipped underneath the waist band of his pyjama's, "Don't you like it rough", her face twisted into a sick smile, "because I do". She thrust her hips hard into Leo and threw her head back in pleasure. Suddenly the air began to shimmer and Kendrix's body twisted into the form of Psycho Pink, "The night has only just begun", the mechanical voice chuckled.

Leo screamed in shock and tried to throw Psycho Pink off. He tried to sit bolt upright but in the process he banged his head against the upper bunk. He grabbed his head in pain and rolled over, falling out of his bed and onto the floor.

"What the hell Leo", Damon called and stuck his head out from his bunk.

"Psy-Psycho Pink", Leo wheezed, "she here".

"Lights", Kai shouted and rolled out of bed, grabbing a blaster in the process. He looked around the room but there was no one there except the three of them, "There's no one here Leo", the blue ranger said.

"Must've been a dream or something", Damon mumbled, "now if you'll excuse me, some of us need our beauty sleep".

"We've all been working flat out on saving Kendrix", Kai began, "try and get some rest".

"I don't think I can", Leo shook his head as he got to his feet, "I think I need a shower after that". Kai shrugged and got back into his bunk. Leo took another look around but it really was just the three of them. He didn't think it was a dream, or a nightmare, everything felt so real. He walked towards the shower not noticing a pair of women's glasses on the stand beside the bunks.

 _Astro Megaship_

Mid morning arrived and the Galaxy Rangers met up with Karone on the Astro Megaship. Leo still hadn't recovered from his weird dream/nightmare and not even a cold shower could relax him enough to get back to sleep. "Are you alright Leo, you look shattered", Karone asked.

"Yeah just a bad dream", the red ranger blushed.

"Should've packed your comforter", Mike sniggered.

Damon turned toward Leo, "You've got a blankie?" he laughed.

"It keeps me warm", Leo answered quickly, "please tell me you've got some good news", he asked the silver ranger, quickly changing the subject.

"Possibly I've come up with an idea but I needed a second opinion", there was a buzz from the computer, "ah that should be them now".

The screen activated and there was Justin together with a browned haired woman in a yellow blouse, "Hey guys", Ashley Hammond greeted the Galaxy Rangers, "I didn't think we'd meet again so soon".

"Neither did we" Maya said to her predecessor, "but it's good to hear from you again".

"Karone explained the situation, I really hope that I can do something to help bring Kendrix back", Ashley began, "I'll hand you over to Justin to go through some of the techie stuff".

"Thanks Ash", the youngster replied, "I've looked over Karone's original blueprints for the Psycho Rangers and she had the foresight to program a failsafe into the system".

"Stop, you're making me blush", Karone waived her hand in a joking manner.

"Basically she foresaw a time when she might've needed to disconnect the Psycho Suit from its host quickly", Justin continued, "in theory if this was activated then Kendrix and Psycho Pink should revert to two separate entities".

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming", Damon stated.

"I've studied the remains of the other Psycho's and this failsafe does still exist", Karone began, "Dark Specter was obviously too lazy to completely overhaul everything. The bad news is that due to changes made to the Psycho Pink AI, we don't know how it's going to react in practice".

Kai folded his arms , "So we could separate their physical bodies but they might still be interconnected mentally".

"Got it in one", Ashley replied, "you could end up with Kendrix's brain in Psycho Pink's body and vice versa". There was a pause before the Yellow Space Ranger added, "Justin's come up with a bit of code that could help them untangle but it's completely untested".

Leo nodded slowly for a moment before asking, "What's the best case scenario?"

"That I'm a genius and they're both in their correct bodies", Justin shrugged.

There was a momentary pause, "And the worst?" Mike asked.

Karone sighed, "That's Kendrix's mind and body isn't able to handle the process and she dies, this time for good".

A solemn silence descended on the room as the Galaxy Ranger contemplated this for a moment. After what felt like an entirety Damon said, "I say we take the chance".

"I agree, I don't think Kendrix would want to be used for evil purposes by that psychopath", Maya added.

"If the worst happens then at least she's at peace", Mike said with much murmuring from the others.

Kai glanced over at the red ranger who was looking everywhere apart from at the others, "What do you think Leo?"

The red ranger glanced up and saw several pairs of eyes looking at him. He took a deep breath, "What do we need to do Justin?"

"I've sent to code to the onboard computer on the Mark One Megaship", Justin began, "it's all ready to run, all you need to do is execute the program".

Ashley gave them a small smile, "Good luck guys, I'm sure this will all turn out for the best", with that final comment she shut down the transmission and the screen went blank.

Karone turned towards the Galaxy Rangers, "Are you ready to do this?" her finger hovered above the execute command, "we could always find something a little safer".

"No", Leo began, "I don't think you would've recommended this if there was an easier option". He paused and walked over to the computer and after one last look at his team, he activated the program himself.

"It'll take several minutes to fully come online", Karone began, "I guess all we have to do until then is wait". Suddenly the alarms went off inside the Megaship, "Or not", the silver ranger grumbled and activated a map of the colony.

"Strange, I can't see an attack anywhere", Damon said as he studied the map.

"Wait try a little closer to home", Kai began and pulled up surveillance footage from outside the hangar. The picture loaded up just in time to see Kendrix punch through the hardened steel door with strength borrowed from her Psycho counterpart.

"She's aware of what we're planning", Karone gasped, "how is that possible?"

Leo slapped his forehead, "How could we forget, remember how Psycho Pink found out about the Savage Sword to begin with", he said to his team.

"She interfaced herself in the communication network of Terra Venture", Damon replied, "so she's been listening to us the entire time".

"Probably", Kai shook his head, "she must've come to shut down the program".

"We don't know what damage will be done if the program is interrupted", Karone began, "I'll monitor it from here but you need to hold her off". The Galaxy Rangers nodded and charged out the ship and down the ramp.

They ran across the hangar floor until they were met by a smirking Kendrix, "Well isn't this a happy reunion".

"Not one more step", Leo's voice boomed.

"Aww that's not what you were saying this morning", Kendrix/Psycho Pink chuckled, "you were begging for more", her voice changed to a whisper, "I could feel everything".

The others turned to look at Leo who blushed a bright shade of red, "We want Kendrix back", the red ranger began, "and if we have to fight you then so be it", the Galaxy Rangers readied their morphers.

"Well this is unexpected", Kendrix/Psycho Pink replied, "but maybe this body has served its purpose". Her voice changed to a poor Russian accent, "If she dies, she dies", she let out a manic laugh and raised her left arm where a discoloured version of Kendrix's morpher sat. She pushed a button and instantly turned into Psycho Pink.

"This is it", Leo said to the other rangers, we can't let her on the ship". His team nodded in response, "Go Galactic", he called.

"Magna Power", Mike added and the team morphed in a flash of light. The battle's for Kendrix's very soul was about to begin.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 _ **A/N –**_ _My attempt at "steamy" is probably a little tame compared to some of the other stuff I've read but it's progress for me, even if it did end and creepy and disturbing way..._

 _I started working on the next story in the series last night. "Infinite Dreams" is set during Lightspeed Rescue and is Billy-centric. It'll be more of an extended one shot than a multi-chapter epics that I usually write. That should be up once this story ends which is in 3 chapters time._


	8. The Undead Will Thank Me Today

_Chapter 8 – The Undead Will Thank Me Today_

 _November 22 1999 – Terra Venture_

Psycho Pink barely gave the rangers the time to finish morphing before going on the attack. A flurry of punches knocked Damon to one side and a straight kick to the stomach dispatched Kai. Mike jumped in with his blaster and unleashed a barrage of laser fire. Pink dodged the blasts as quickly as she could and the shot impacted the hangar wall behind her, "You really aren't holding back are you?" she laughed.

"What gave us away", Leo pulled out his Quasar Sabre and slashed it across the chest of the Psycho Ranger, sending a shower of sparks into the air.

"Aren't you forgetting about your dear Kendrix?" Pink taunted the red ranger.

Leo paused for a moment, "Not forgetting, just choosing to liberate her from your clutches". He swung his Sabre again but this time Pink caught it between her hands and pulled it out of his hands. She threw the blade across the hangar and it hit the ground with a resounding clang. Mike and Kai quickly came to Leo's rescue with their respective blades, taking another chunk out of Psycho Pink in the process.

"I grow tired of this", Pink grumbled and summoned her Psycho Bow. She pulled back on the string and fired a volley of pink energy at the rangers.

"Guys get down", Damon called out as he leapt to the front with his Trans Blaster in hand. He fired his own wave of green energy that blocked Psycho Pink shots.

"Delta Daggers", Maya called and slashed Pink across the body with her weapon. The outer skin of the Psycho Ranger split in places, revealing some wiring underneath. To their surprise a few drops of blood sprays onto the floor of the hangar. They hesitated for a moment as they suddenly remembered it was their friend underneath the suit.

"You insolent fools", Pink roared, her bow charging up with pink energy. She swung it in front of her in a loose arc and a wave of energy shot towards the Galaxy Rangers. They were swept off their feet and skidded across the ground.

"How much longer do we have to keep this up?" Kai groaned.

"Just a few more minutes guys", they heard Karone call into their communication systems, "the upload is around eighty percent.

"So that's your plan", Pink began, "we'll see about that". She fired her bow towards the Megaship, rocking the massive craft. A few loose panels fell to the floor and the rangers were barely able to roll out the way. "Foolish rangers, did you really think you could stop Psycho Pink", she roared with laughter.

Leo punched the ground and leapt to his feet, summoning the keys that he had retrieved from The Warrior a few days ago, "You've taken our friend from us, you're not going to destroy our ship", Leo stated and brought the keys together. There was a flash of light and a large silver chest piece appeared on his body. There was a green circle in the middle that pulsed with power, "Red Armoured Ranger", he called.

"K-keep back", Psycho Pink slowly back away slightly fearful of the sight of the red ranger's battilizer.

"Not this time Pink", Leo roared and fired one of the weapon's powerful lasers towards Pink. The Psycho Pink rolled to her left but the blast caught her in the side, knocking large chunks of armour off Pink.

Leo moved towards the fallen Psycho Pink and noticed that she was holding her side. When he looked closer he could see that her suit had come free in places and exposed Kendrix's body underneath. She was bleeding heavily and it was pooling on the floor, "Congratulations Red Ranger", Pink croaked, "looks like you've got your wish, now finish me off".

"What have I done", Leo shook his head and backed away.

Pink looked up at the red ranger and her helmet melted away, "Leo please", Kendrix's voice pleaded. She crawled towards him and using him as an anchor, hauled herself to her feet, "Before you do it, I just want to say one thing".

"Anything", Leo looked into her eyes.

He was so focused on this that he failed to see Pink's hands crackling with energy. His team mates called out to him but he failed to hear them in time. Kendrix's face smirked and she rammed her hands into his chest. A massive burst of energy catapulted Leo across the hangar and shorted out his battlizer, "You're not getting rid of Psycho Pink that easily", she chuckled as her helmet warped back into place.

Leo was soon surrounded by his team mates and there was smoke still pouring off his suit, "I'm sorry everyone", he choked.

"Not your fault little brother", Mike reassured him, "it was a rotten trick".

"Indeed it was Magna Defender", Pink chuckled, "now it's time for my next one". Pink was about to fire her bow towards them but she hesitated for a moment. Seconds later the weapon dropped to the ground and she clutched her head in agony, "What's happening to me", she roared.

"The upload must be complete", Maya gasped as Pink convulsed uncontrollably.

The hangar was filling with a horrifying scream as Pink's body flickered between her own and Kendrix's. Slowly but surely the two of them began to physically pull apart from each other. The sound of rupturing sinews and splitting materials were stomach churning but the process appeared to be working. With one final cry of pain the two bodies completely separated. Kendrix was thrown towards the Astro Megaship whilst Psycho Pink was catapulted in the other direction.

The Galaxy Rangers moved quickly towards their friend and knelt by her side. Her face was sweaty and the large wound in her side was still bleeding. Kai lent forward nervously and pressed two fingers against her neck, "She's got a pulse", he let out a sigh of relief, "but we need to stop the bleeding".

"Hopefully their minds are in the correct bodies", Damon added. He gently rocked Kendrix but she was unconscious.

On the other side of the hangar Psycho Pink got to her feet and let out a roar, "No, that's not possible, my plan was flawless".

"Well at least we know Pink's in the correct body", Maya turned to face the psycho.

"If I can't have Kendrix Morgan than no one can", Pink quickly grabbed her bow and fired off a shot towards the fallen pink ranger. Leo and the others shielded her body with their own but the blast never found its target.

They turned around and saw an unmorphed Karone with her Super Silverizer in hand, "I'll look after Kendrix, you take care of Psycho Pink", she saw without looking at the Galaxy Rangers. One by one they passed the silver ranger and gave her an appreciative nod on the way.

Karone dropped her weapon to one side and quickly lifted by Kendrix's blood stained top. The wound looked nasty but if she could stem the flow of blood, it probably wasn't life threatening. "Hey Kendrix", she said to her patient, "good to finally meet the real you". The silver ranger pressed a towel against the wound and applied some pressure, "I'm Karone by the way, I don't think we were ever properly introduced".

She removed the towel and the worst of the bleeding had stopped, giving her time to wipe the area with some antiseptic, "I think Leo really likes you", she continued to chat as she worked, "perhaps you noticed before all this happened". Karone wasn't sure but she could've sworn that Kendrix had a little smile on her face. She placed a dressing on the wound and used some medical tape to keep it in place, "There that should keep you going until we can take a proper look at you". She brushed Kendrix's hair away from her face and carefully lowered her head onto the floor.

The silver ranger turned her attention back to the battle, the rangers were on top but their separate fire power wasn't enough to keep Psycho Pink down, "We need the Lights of Orion", she heard Damon call out.

"But we can't do that without Kendrix", Kai reminded the green ranger.

Karone looked down at Kendrix's wrist and saw her fully functional Transmorpher. A crazy thought ran through her head and she wasn't even sure if it would work. If it did then it would be extremely dangerous as her body wouldn't be able to handle two fully powered morphers for an extended period. "The team needs a pink ranger", Karone said as she removed the device from Kendrix's wrist, "so a pink ranger is what they're going to get".

"You might have foiled my plans rangers but you won't leave here alive", Psycho Pink taunted them.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that", Karone responded as she stepped onto the battlefield. She adjusted the borrowed Transmorpher on her wrist.

"Karone you can't just steal someone's powers", Leo hissed.

"I'd call this borrowing", Karone shrugged, "plus I've already done it once in my life so why not a second time".

"Didn't you say it was dangerous to wield two different sets of powers?" Mike added.

"I did but desperate times and all that", Karone eyed Psycho Pink and took a deep breath, "here goes nothing", she sighed before calling, "Go Galactic".

There was a bright light that seemed to linger longer than normal but it soon cleared to reveal the Pink Galaxy Ranger, "I can't believe that worked", Damon cheered.

Karone paused for a moment to study her temporary suit. Pink wasn't really her favourite colour but she would have to live with that. Suddenly an intense burst of pain racked her body and she leant forward, putting her hands on her knees, "Yeah but I don't know how long I can hold it for", she wheezed, "you need the Lights of Orion and quickly". She could feel the pink Galaxy powers fighting for supremacy over her own powers. It was like she was getting electrocuted several times a second over every part of her body.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Leo asked with concern in his voice.

"Who wants to live forever right? That's my teams motto", she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Alright just do what we do", Leo nodded in her direction as she fell in line with the other Galaxy Rangers. "Lights of Orion, activate", he called and moments later the familiar golden attachments formed on their bodies. Karone wobbled on her feet but she was determined to do this and willed herself to remain conscious. "Full power", Leo said to the others and they charged towards Psycho Pink. They turned into a ball of light that flew through the Psycho Ranger and she cried out in pain.

As the rangers skidded to a halt, Psycho Pink's body slowly broke apart as circuit boards and wires turned to dust. She cried out with one final death rattle and collapsed to the ground, finally defeated once and for all. The other rangers celebrated but Karone was in no mood to party, "Karone are you alright?" Maya asked.

The temporary pink ranger turned her head but Maya's voice was fuzzy and distance. She hissed in pain as her body crackled with pink energy, "What's happening to her?" Mike asked.

"I think her body is rejecting Kendrix's powers", Kai gasped as Karone's morph failed. She glanced at the Galaxy Rangers with a blank expression before her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She collapsed forward into the waiting arms of Damon. 'At least Kendrix is going to be alright' she thought to herself. The last thing she remembered was the desperate cries from the other rangers before darkness consumed her.


	9. Fly In The Face Of Your Prophets

_Chapter 9 – Fly In The Face Of Your Prophets_

 _November 23 1999 – Terra Venture_

Karone groaned as some light began to creep through her partially open eye lids. She tried to roll over but she immediately became aware of something sticking out of her arm. Her body ached all over, almost like she had just completed a marathon. As she shuffled upwards in her bed some of the events of the previous day began to come back to her. Firstly they had succeeded in uploading the separation program into Psycho Pink's software, forcibly prizing her apart from Kendrix. She vaguely recalled grabbing the pink Transmorpher and using it to help the others use the Lights of Orion to finally destroy Psycho Pink. After that there was nothing, she could only assume that she had passed out.

Immediately her thoughts turned to Kendrix, the last time she had seen her was in the hangar. She wasn't even sure if she had successfully pulled through. Karone then heard someone rattling around on the other side of the room. The silver ranger wasn't sure where she was but it looked very much like a hospital or a medical bay. Karone turned her head as much as she could and saw a familiar looking head of blonde hair, "Kendrix?" she was able to croak out.

"Ah so the patient's awake", Kendrix turned around and smiled at the silver ranger.

"Shouldn't I be saying that to you", Karone chuckled.

"Thanks to your first aid skills I was up and about in no time", Kendrix lifted up her top, revealing a large plaster on her side. "Now you on the other hand were almost totally wiped out", Kendrix frowned, "it was strange, Kai couldn't find anything wrong but it was like your internal batteries had been drained".

"Trying to wield two separate powers without a filter, as it turns out isn't a good idea", Karone slowly sat up on the bed.

Kendrix checked the silver ranger's blood pressure before shining a torch into her eyes. She carefully removed the IV drip from her arm and placed a plaster over the wound, "Thank you", Kendrix began, "you didn't have to come to Terra Venture to help us".

"I kinda did", Karone shrugged, "I assume the others have told you the whole story".

The pink ranger nodded, "But still, you could've stayed at home and not done anything. If you had then I would probably be dead or worst, still under the control of that monster".

"What was it like?" Karone asked before correcting herself, "Sorry I forget to filter myself sometimes".

"Its fine", Kendrix shook it off, "it was like someone had hijacked my body. I could see everything that was happening but I could do nothing to stop it". She paused for a moment, "I tried my hardest to Psycho Pink back but then she would just override my own thoughts".

The two blondes were silent for a few minutes as Kendrix continued to perform some checks on the silver ranger. Eventually she was satisfied that Karone was fit and healthy so she signed her discharge papers, "I assume that you're leaving soon", Kendrix asked.

"Probably for the best", Karone replied, tying her hair back into a loose ponytail in the process, "Commander Stanton has already made it clear that I've outstayed my welcome. Plus I'm sure that Andros is pretty close to sending the entire Karovian army out to find me".

"Before you go, there is somewhere I think we should both go", Kendrix interlocked her arm with Karone's and led her out of the medical bay.

"So, you and Leo", Karone teased the pink ranger as the doors closed behind them.

 _The Forest_

Kendrix led Karone into the forest where the Galactabeasts lived and formally introduced her to the Wildcat Zord. The sentient beast roared with delight at the return of her partner, in fact all of the Galactabeasts were overjoyed to see the pink ranger back. The Wildcat Zord knelt down and gently bowed to Karone, "She's thanking you", Kendrix said to her fellow blonde.

"It's weird, I think I can sense that", Karone replied as she stroked the zord.

The Wildcat cried out in the direction of Kendrix, almost like it was communicating, "She wants you to know that she would've willingly followed you into battle if you had chosen to bond with the Transmorpher".

Karone didn't respond for a moment as she thought about those words. Even though she had never truly considered taking Kendrix's powers for herself. It was more of an impulse to use the Transmorpher to help out the other Galaxy Ranger. Still it was still nice to hear that the Wildcat Zord considered her worthy, "Thank you I'm honoured", she said directly to the zord, "but no offence I like my own powers". During the walk out to the forest, she had double checked her Digimorpher to see if it still recognised her as the silver ranger. Fortunately it still did and her brief use of the Galaxy Pink powers hadn't done any damage to her own.

"Having your own personal jet is kinda cool", Kendrix replied before the Wildcat roared again, "you're not trying to replace me are you?" she asked the zord.

"It's good to see that you two have a healthy relationship", she joked with the pink ranger, "but sadly I think it's time to go".

Karone patted the zord one last time before waiving to the Galactabeasts. As the pair left the forest the remaining Galaxy Rangers were waiting for them on the path to the hangar, "We had an interesting call whilst you were sleeping", Leo began, "someone from Project Hexagon".

"Oh really", Karone said coolly.

"They were extending the hand of friendship", Damon added, "and asking us to come on board as full time assets".

"We said no", Kai said quickly.

Karone frowned for a moment, "Look I know I wasn't too positive about them but there are some really good people there".

"It wasn't that", Leo replied, "firstly I think we're too far away from Earth to truly be a part of their program. Mostly though we value our independence too much and that would be damaged with our involvement".

"Fair enough", Karone shrugged, "I bet they weren't too happy about that".

"We didn't give them a chance to use any more of their sales pitch", Kai replied, "so I guess we'll never know".

There was a moment of silence before Mike said, "So I guess this is goodbye then".

"You make it sound like I'm dying", she smiled, "but I think it's time for me to return to Karovia".

"Well you've got six friends here on Terra Venture", Leo pulled her into a hug, "thanks for bringing her back".

Karone nodded and slapped him a couple of times on the back, "Don't waste this second chance will you", she whispered into his ear. Next she turned towards Kai, Damon and Mike, "Keep her out of trouble won't you", she smiled, "I don't want to have to come back a second time to save her".

"You can count on us", Mike nodded.

The silver ranger barely had time to turn around before she was engulfed by Maya, "Take care temporary roomie".

"Look after yourself Maya", Karone squeezed the brunette, "stay true to yourself won't you". The yellow ranger nodded and kissed Karone on the cheek.

Finally there was just Kendrix left, the one she had come to avenge. The two had formed a strong bond, even though they had only properly met a few hours ago. They embraced each other and both of them shed a small tear of happiness. For Kendrix there was relief that she had been brought out of her waking nightmare. For Karone she felt happier than she had done in her life, like a huge weight had finally been lifted and this time it wasn't coming back.

"Ah Lieutenant Morgan", they heard Commander Stanton's voice call out, "I see that you're alive and well".

"You could say that sir", she replied.

"Well I'm sure you have a perfectly good explanation for going AWOL for several weeks", he began, "hopefully it's not that dreaded flu that you and some of my other senior officers", he glanced at Kai and Mike, "keep coming down with".

Karone snorted, "Have fun explaining this one away", she said to Kendrix with a quiet voice.

"And Karone", Stanton continued, "I trust you haven't forgotten my deadline".

"No sir", she gave him a small salute, "in fact I was just about to leave".

"Oh", Stanton sounded genuinely surprised, "well it was an honour to have you visit us but next time, try and alert us to your presence".

"Will do", Karone turned around with a spring in her step, "look after yourself guys and don't do anything that I wouldn't do", and the Galaxy Rangers waived her goodbye.

The journey back to the hangar took hardly any time at all and soon Karone was back in the cockpit of the Mega Winger. She started the activation sequence and blasted out in to the darkness of space. With the auto pilot set to Karovia, she sent out a deep space communication to her home planet. A few minutes later she got a response", Hey Karone", Zhane began, "I see that you're on your way home".

"Yeah everything's going to be alright for the Galaxy Rangers now", she replied.

"So Kendrix is going to be fine", a third voice called out.

"Andros what have I told you about eavesdropping on other people's conversation", Karone sighed.

"Excuse me for being concerned for my baby sister", Andros snorted.

"You're nine minutes older than me", Karone began, "so stop with the overprotective big brother crap".

"Guys chill", Zhane bravely stepped into the brewing sibling argument, "no harm done right?"

Karone sighed again, "Yeah I suppose you're right. I'm sorry Andros, I shouldn't have disappeared like that".

"You're right you shouldn't have", Andros began, "but I need to accept that you're a grown-up who can do what they want. But next time can you at least tell us what you're planning".

Over the radio Karone heard the sound of Zhane clapping his hands together, "Now that's sorted out, can you confirm that Kendrix is fine".

"Yeah she's great, I reckon she'll be back in action before long", she settled back into the pilot's chair.

"Ha I knew my plan would work", Zhane said with an excited voice.

"You're not going to let us forget that are you?" Andros sighed.

"I'd love to listen to this but I could do with a few hours of silence", Karone checked her navigation computer, "I should be back in about a day and when I get back, me and Zhane are going to make up for lost time", she added with a sultry voice.

"Don't need to hear this", Andros began but Karone turned off the radio before he could say anything else. She reclined the chair back slightly to get more comfortable and smiled to herself. Psycho Pink was gone and with it her evil alter ego's legacy. The remains of the other Psycho's had been incinerated so they could never again be revived. All plans and blueprints had been deleted, except for a master copy that was safely stored in the Power Vault of the Mark Two Astro Megaship.

She felt different than after the battle with Dark Specter, this time she felt much more confident that her past was behind her. Even if something else came out the woodwork then she felt more capable of dealing with it. When she arrived back on Karovia she was going to do something positive. She fancied doing something with children, maybe an elementary school teacher. It was time to stop living in the past and look to the future. And this time, she really did believe it.

 _ **A/N –**_ _So this is where we leave the Galaxy Rangers. I could've carried on but I don't think that having Kendrix back in the team would make any real difference to events after they entered the Lost Galaxy. They will happen as per canon but just with Kendrix back in her rightful place. One final epilogue chapter to come that's set on Earth where we catch up with two familiar faces._


	10. Seven Holy Paths To Hell

_Chapter 10 – Seven Holy Paths To Hell_

 _December 1 1999 – INET Headquarters, Angel Grove_

Gazing out of the frosted glass of her office window, one of the CEO's of the INET corporation idly watched her employees going about their daily business. They were grabbing piles of paper from a printer, talking at the coffee machine, all the time glancing around to see if their boss would catch them sneaking a few extra minutes from their desks. The CEO though just smiled, like she was remembering a time when she did exactly the same thing.

Aimi McBride, formerly Miyamoto, found herself people watching several times a day. It seemed like such a long time ago that she was assigned to Angel Grove. She sometimes still wished that she was that wide eyed 25 year old woman that got through her days by annoying her boss. Now she had crashed into her thirties and found herself as the Chief Executive of a Fortune 500 company.

Forbes Magazine wrote an article about her and Xander, the youngest CEO's of a major corporation in decades. It was a decent article but the magazine, like several other people, wondered how this newly married couple had found themselves in charge of INET. Every moment of the day it felt like everyone was expecting the pair to fall flat on their faces. Of course they couldn't tell them that the company was transferred over to them by a time traveller from an alternate future that no longer existed. They would call for the men in white coats and have her escorted out the building in a straight jacket.

Aimi stretched her arms and slowly got out of her leather chair. She glanced at her reflection in the glass and she barely recognised the person staring back. She had cut her hair shorter so it now only reached her shoulders. Her previous wardrobe of comfy jeans and trainers had been replaced by power suits and heels. She had dreams of becoming self employed and avoiding all the stress of government work. Now all she had to look forward to was the daily visit of the sandwich lady in the morning.

She and Xander had talked about stepping down as CEO's and leaving the job to someone more qualified. Technically they were still the majority owners of INET so it wouldn't be a problem. The sticking point came with Project Hexagon. The whole reason they got back into the ranger business around the time of the Turbo Rangers was to make a difference and they wouldn't be able to do that without having a hands on role. Unfortunately the latest team had rejected their offer to enter the project. She understood their reasons but it was more than a little disappointing and their failure to get the Galaxy Rangers on board hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Hey", Xander quietly left himself into the office, "still having IT problems", he smiled, that was their code phrase for 'I'm taking an unofficial break'.

"Yeah I'm still surprised that no one has questioned that", she replied, "I mean we do own a multi-national software manufacturer, we shouldn't suffer with IT issues".

"No one questions the boss", Xander snorted, "except for the accountants apparently".

Project Hexagon was partially funded by the government but the bulk of the money came from INET itself. Aimi and Xander had pumped a lot of money into getting everything off the ground. They were hit with a hammer blow when the Space Rangers had declined to sign up. The team were national heroes after defeating Dark Specter, a fact that still rankled some of the veteran rangers. Without their support they were finding it difficult to fund additional ranger technology research, "I take it the meeting didn't go very well", Aimi crossed the room and placed an arm around her husband's shoulders.

"That's putting it mildly", Xander began, "they went through everything we've spent money on with a fine tooth comb". He opened his folder to display some notes from the meeting, "For example they questioned why we gave this much to Captain Mitchell and Lightspeed".

"Because he came to us asking for a grant to get the Rescue Morphers working", Aimi shrugged.

"Yeah but to go demon hunting is basically what they said", Xander began, "you should've heard the laugh that got. Then they asked who Kanoi Watanabe was, do you know how hard it is to explain that he's a ninja master without saying he's a ninja master who wants to start a ranger project".

"They're just looking at the bottom line though", Aimi tried to soothe her co-executive, "they haven't seen the things that we have and realise what a very real threat some of these things are".

"And they probably never will", Xander reached into the desk and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and poured a glass, "they're asking for a vote of no confidence in us", he said before taking a swig.

"You're kidding", Aimi exclaimed and grabbed the glass from her husband, "bastards", she took a drink herself and handed the glass back to him.

"They said the only way to avoid this is if we set up an executive committee, basically taking away our sole control over everything", Xander swirled the liquid in his glass. "We would remain as CEO's but the real power would rest with this new Board of Directors".

"Do we have enough support from the shareholders to win a vote", Aimi asked but Xander shrugged in response. Aimi grabbed her hair and paused for thought for a few moments, "Do they have anyone in mind for this committee?"

Xander said nothing and simply handed Aimi a folder with the names and details of the people in mind for the team, "These are basically career suits with absolute no compassion or soul".

"That's a little strong", Xander pointed at one picture, "I mean eyebrows here looks like a reasonable guy".

Aimi groaned, "Where did this all go wrong?" She paced the room for a moment, "If only certain people had kept their mouth shut a year ago then we wouldn't be in this mess. Now we're known as the people that forced the Space Rangers off the planet".

"Forced probably isn't the right term", Xander shrugged.

"Stop standing up for them", Aimi cried, "it's bad enough they haven't taken responsibility for their actions". She took another couple of paces, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap".

"Apology accepted", Xander began, "I know what you mean but we can't change what's happened, we just have to make the best of a bad situation".

Aimi sighed and gave her husband a firm hug, "I knew you were the logical one in this marriage", she whispered. They held each other for a few moments before separating, "I really don't like this committee idea, it'll be like working for the agency all over again".

"Slightly questionable ethics and morals?" Aimi nodded, "You're not the only one who thinks that, trust me but we can't fight the system from the outside", Xander added.

Aimi nodded and looked at the notes from the meeting in more detail, "What's this about monitors?" she asked.

"Just something I came up with on the fly", he began, "basically we assign newcomers to Hexagon with a veteran ranger to act as a liaison". He pointed down at a barely legible scrawl in the margin of the page, "I even had an idea for the three potential teams we have in the works".

"Billy with Lightspeed I agree with", Aimi raised an eyebrow, "Rocky with the ninja's, are you sure?"

"He's got insider knowledge of the academy", Xander replied.

"Yeah but no offence to the guy but he can be a total douche", Aimi shook her head, "and Tommy and this dino team. Firstly how do we know that these gems will even give someone ranger powers?"

"The researcher working on them thought they had potential", Xander began, "Hayley is one of our brightest assets, almost as intelligent as Billy".

"Ok fair enough but did you know that Kat's pregnant?" Aimi added, "don't you think that this will add unwanted pressure to the pair".

"It's just an idea at this stage", Xander slumped into one of the office chairs, "plus we're short on numbers, ideally we would've considered Trini, Andros, TJ and maybe Cassie but we don't have that option".

Aimi sighed and sat in the seat opposite Xander, kicking her heels off in the process. She grasped his hand and stroked the back of it with her thumb, "That could be us you know, settling down and having kids of our own, my biological clock is ticking".

"I know and it will happen one day", he tried to soothe her. He leaned over and gave her a kiss that gradually became more passionate. A few moments later they realised they were in a glass office and passers by were staring at them.

"I want that report by five McAdams", Aimi shouted at one of the gawking employees. The young man that was presumably named McAdams jumped out of his skin and quickly ran back to his desk, "Sometimes it's good to be the boss", she smiled.

Xander chuckled before returning to their original conversation, "Let's get Lightspeed launched and see what happens. Maybe if that's a success then we can wrestle some control back". He gave a saucy look, "And I'm not saying no to children but in the mean time we could always get some practice in", he wiggled his eyebrows.

He was fully expecting Aimi to reject him but she surprised him by looking on her computer, "Well my next meeting isn't for another few hours", She replaced her shoes and walked towards the door, "If we leave now then you might get a special treat", she blew him a kiss and opened the door. It took Xander a few moments to pick his jaw up off the floor before he hurried off after her. The pair were trying their best not to let the corporate world change them but it was getting harder with each day. The Galaxy Rangers might not be joining their team but that would soon be forgotten if Lightspeed went off without a hitch. The success of Project Hexagon rested firmed with Captain Mitchell and the team that he chose.

 _ **A/N –** An appearance from the CEO's of INET and it's good to see they still have the same dedication to work as before. __So Only The Good Die Young is officially over. This chapter sets up three future stories nicely where more details about the benefits (or drawbacks) of working with Hexagon get revealed. Billy's still working with them, the Wind Ninja's are one of their first clients and Kat's pregnant!_

 _The next story will be up soon and is entitled "Infinite Dreams" and will be set during Lightspeed Rescue. It should be up next Monday so if you haven't set an author alert, keep an eye out for it. I was going to split it into chapters but I've now decided it's going to be a 10k word one shot. Just a quick note on story lengths in this series, most (except the Super Megaforce one) will be around this length. Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder will be a little longer but the rest will be between 20-30,000 words._


End file.
